Film Review: How To Train Your Dragon

Dreamworks. The company that has always had to compete with PIXAR. Most of the time, these guys get a bad cred. You can blame that on duds like Spirit, Shrek The Third and Madagascar 2. But with films like Shrek 1 & 2, Over The Hedge and Kung Fu Panda, these guys show they can do great cinema. They just need to get talented people to work on their films. This one has Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois in the director's chair. These guys worked on the classic Lilo & Stitch. So is it any wonder this is the best dreamWorks adventure yet?

Hiccup (Jay Bruchel) is a small viking on the island of Berk. While his friends are always battling dragons, he's working with Gobber (Craig Ferguson) as a blacksmith. However, he catches the rarest of all dragons: a Night Fury. But when he see's it for the first time, he just CAN'T kill the little critter he dubs Toothless. And thus, a classic film friendship is born.

Let's face it. This story has been told time after time again. But...this one just seems fresher, perhaps because this is the first pet that, y'know, kills people! Toothless, however, comes off more cute than ferocious. In fact, he has some of the best expressions that I've seen in animation in a LOOOOOOOOOONG time. He and Hiccup do make good buddies.



The voices in the film are really well, Jonah Hill and Craig Ferguson being stnad-outs. Gerard Butler also does well as Hiccup's father. Jay is alright as Hiccup, much better than I thought he would be thanks to those pesky TV commercials. Toothless, thank goodness, has no voice actor. That's probably for the best as he does perfectly fine here silent.

The animation also does well here. The background are beautiful and the dragons look really good too. This film just gets everything right, fromt pacing to action to animation. A highly reccomended ride in 3D or 2D!!



Rating: 9.0 out of 10 or A

SYS

Shrek 4 & MegaMind Screened

Two of Dreamworks 2010 releases had never-before seen footage screened yesterday. The following is the description for Shrek 4:

Screened for an eager audience was, straight through, the first thirty minutes of the new film in 3D, which opens with storybook narration, recounting Shrek's previous adventures. We're then taken to a "carriage park" (imagine a redneck trailer park, but with fairytale witches and vampires living out of their carriages) as the King and Queen of Far, Far Away reluctantly drive through to a meeting with Rumpelstiltskin (and his surprisingly sinister-looking pet, a sharp-toothed duck named Fifi). There, the diminutive creature (voiced by Dreamworks Animation production artist Wal Dohrn) tries to get them to sign a contract, trading their kingdom to have Fiona's curse lifted. Just as they are about to sign, someone barges in and tells them that the curse has been lifted, as per the events of the first "Shrek" film.

We cut back to the storybook with the narrator, now revealed to be Rumpelstiltskin himself, sitting in a bookstore, furiously talking about how Shrek ruined his chances at ruling Far, Far Away.

Shrek, meanwhile, is living an idyllic life with Fiona and his kids. Donkey drops by with his own dragon/donkey offspring and every day a tour bus passes and tourists happily photograph the formerly terrifying ogre. Quickly, this builds to a montage, revealing that, as happy as Shrek is, the monotony is getting to him. He finally reveals to Fiona that he wishes he could have just a single day of being a monster again.

Setting himself up in a false carriage accident, Rumpelstiltskin tricks Shrek into stopping to help him in the middle of the woods. Pretending to be grateful, he tells Shrek that, if he's willing to give up a single past day of his, he can magically arrange a day for him to be a real ogre again. Suggesting that it could be a day when he was a baby that he won't even remember, Rumpelstiltskin convinces Shrek and he signs a lengthy contract.

Suddenly coming to in the woods, Shrek spots "WANTED" posters with his face and, to his delight, realizes that his wish has come true: he can terrorize the village again. In a musical montage, he does just that, happily causing havoc and chasing townspeople (all set to The Carpenters' "Top of the World").

Later, though, Shrek spots another poster, this one with Fiona's face. Realizing something is wrong, he returns to the town and realizes things aren't as he planned; Ogres are being rounded up and imprisoned in the castle by the new ruler, Rumpelstiltskin. Shrek himself is captured and brought in by two witches, in a carriage pulled by Donkey (who, in this reality, never met Shrek).

On the way into town, there's a great appearance by Gingerbread man who, in the alternate timeline, is a Roman-style gladiator, fighting animal crackers in a miniature stadium.

At the palace, Shrek comes before Rumpelstiltskin in a sort of witch-filled nightclub. The villain reveals that the day that was taken from Shrek was the day he was born and, as such, he never really existed. When the 24 hours are up, Shrek will vanish forever.

Furious, Shrek breaks free of his chains and grabs an unwitting Donkey, battling witches and escaping from the palace, the clock quickly running out to find a loophole in Rumpelstiltskin's contract

Here is The MegaMind description:

Megamind himself (voiced by Will Ferrell) has a similar origin to Superman; when he was a baby, his planet was destroyed and he was rocketed to Earth. His landing, however, was inside a penitentiary and he grew up a criminal genius.

By Megamind's side is Minion (voice by David Cross), a combination robot/monkey with fish tank for a head and the mind of a talking piranha (presumably constructed by Megamind himself).

Metro City (mispronounced by Megamind as "metrocity", rhyming with "velocity") is championed by Metroman (voiced by Brad Pitt), a muscular superhero with a white Elvis-like costume and Reed Richards-style graying temples.

Metroman's love interest is Roxanne Ritchie (voiced by Tina Fey), a TV news reporter who is Megamind's go-to girl when he needs a damsel in distress. As such, Megamind and Roxanne are extremely familiar with one another and she has become bored by his failed plots to rule the world.

The footage opens with Metroman attending a museum ribbon cutting in his honor. He showboats for the crowd, flying, doing tricks and even juggling a woman's babies, all the rounds of roaring applause.

Megamind, meanwhile, has kidnapped Roxanne and taken him to his secret lair. Tied to a chair, Roxanne is unimpressed with anything Megamind has, including a pit of alligators and an enormous machine gun.

Going on the air, Megamind broadcasts a message to Metroman, telling him off the kidnapping. Roxanne shouts to the hero that she's being held at an abandoned observatory and Metroman rushes to her aid. The tables are turned on Metroman, however, as the observatory is revealed to be a fake. Metroman finds himself inside a large, domed building while Megamind watches from an adjacent base.

Telling Minion to fire his laser, Megamind is horrified to find that it's going to take longer to load the programing than he had thought. Metroman and Megamind exchange some really funny superhero metaphors back and forth ("Justice is a non-corrodible metal!" shouts Metroman at one point). With the laser unable to fire, Megamind thinks he's lost again, until he spots something unusual on his monitor: Metroman is trapped inside the dome. Copper, he reveals, is his secret weakness and Megamind has unwittingly lured him to a building that has sapped his energy. Unable to fly away, Metroman is struck by the laser blast and, apparently, completely destroyed.

The footage ends here, but a few slides were shown of what happens next; Megamind conquers the city, but finds that, without a rival, his life has no meaning. He goes to work creating a new superhero out of Hal Stewart, a cameraman for Roxanne (as voiced by Jonah Hill), creating the alternate superhero identity Titan.

These films sound OK, though I like MegaMind more than Shrek 4.

SYS

3D DVD Rush Continues

It seems Samsung and DreamWorks are coming together for the first ever 3D home release TV and DVD. The following is the press release they announced this morning:

Samsung Electronics America, Inc., DreamWorks Animation SKG, Inc. and Technicolor today announced that they have formed a global strategic alliance for the delivery of a complete 3D home entertainment solution in 2010. The three companies have joined forces to accelerate the worldwide deployment of in-home 3D to mainstream consumers.

The solution includes a broad line-up of 3D-capable HDTVs from Samsung, its new 3D Blu-ray disc player, and an exclusive promotion that includes a first-time feature-length, 3D Blu-ray version of DreamWorks Animation’s 2009 release, “Monsters vs. Aliens.” The disc will be created and produced by Technicolor, the leading innovator in entertainment technology. Samsung will provide customers several 3D selections, including a short entitled "Bob's Big Break" as well as trailers for 2010 DreamWorks Animation feature film releases "How to Train your Dragon" and "Shrek Forever After" on Samsung HDTVs with its Internet@TV feature.

“We’ve continued to innovate and make significant investments in 3D technology since we delivered our first 3D HDTV to market in 2007, and now we’re pleased to deliver a complete 3D entertainment offering for the home along with industry-leading innovators like DreamWorks Animation and Technicolor,” said Tim Baxter, president of the Consumer Electronics Division at Samsung Electronics America. “There has been great success with 3D in theaters, and the stars have finally aligned to bring this experience to the home with combination of standardization, plenty of product options and 3D content.”

“2009 was the Year of 3D in theaters throughout the world as movie-goers consistently chose the premium 3D experiences,” said Jeffrey Katzenberg, Chief Executive Officer of DreamWorks Animation. “Innovative technology is at the heart of everything we do at DreamWorks Animation so we are thrilled that Samsung’s industry-leading 3D HDTVs and Technicolor’s first-of-its-kind Blu-ray technology can now bring 3D content to consumers across the globe at home.”

“We have great collaborators in Samsung and DreamWorks Animation to make in-home 3D content available to the consumer,” said Frederic Rose, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Technicolor. “With our innovations in Blu-ray 3D technology, Technicolor is well-positioned to meet consumer demand for 3D in the home. We look forward to continuing to help DreamWorks Animation innovate its art of storytelling and Samsung extend its global home entertainment leadership into the 3D space.”

About the Samsung 3D Entertainment Solution

The largest 3D-capable product lineup to date, Samsung’s 2010 HDTV lineup includes the 7000 Series and above LED TVs, 7000 Series and above plasma TVs, and 750 Series LCD TVs. The HDTVs include Samsung’s proprietary built-in 3D processor and emitter that is optimized for and enables compatibility with multiple 3D standards including half and full HD resolution formats, as well as the Blu-ray Disc Association ratified “Blu-ray 3D” standard. In addition, Samsung’s 3D system delivers a picture using a full color spectrum for an unbelievable, immersive viewing experience.

For those who want to add the third dimension to their regular TV viewing, Samsung included in its 3D processor an auto-conversion technology that renders 2D content into 3D in real time. When not in the 3D mood, you’re back to watching one of the best quality HDTVs on the market with the push of a button.

Samsung offers a complete solution allowing consumers to bring the 3D theater experience home with the following products:

* Samsung 3D LED, LCD, and plasma HDTVs
* Samsung BD-C6900 Blu-ray player
* Samsung’s active shutter 3D glasses to enable a superior 3D viewing experience
* DreamWorks Animation’s ”Monsters vs. Aliens” Blu-ray 3D disc created and produced by Technicolor

Samsung and Technicolor at the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES)

Samsung’s lineup of 3D products will be on display at Booth #11026 during International Consumer Electronics Show at the Las Vegas Convention Center, January 7 – 10, 2010.

Technicolor is hosting private media demonstrations of its “Technicolor Genuine 3D,” including showcasing 3D content from DreamWorks Animation, at Booth 13219 Central Hall.

SYS

DiCaprio Is Now A Guardian...

Leonardo DiCaprio will become a voice actor for the first time in The Guardians, DreamWork's Animation Fall 2012 feature.

In the film, several childhood fantasies such as The Sandman and Jack Frost, team up to take down a villain that is bent on putting the world in eternal darkness.

Leonardo will play Jack Frost. This could turn out to be an interesting film...

SYS

DreamWorks and THQ Join Forces

THQ and DreamWorks Animation will team up to create games after Kung Fu Panda 2, The Penguins of Madagascar, MegaMind and Puss In Boots.

You might wonder MegaMind is. It's Oobermind, which was the title of Master Mind. That makes it the 3rd title for the film. Probably a record. I'll check later. Oobermind comes out November 5, 2010 in 3D.

SYS

How To Train Your Dragon Trailer

Yes, we have video's now. Don't go into convulsions yet. We still have plenty left to do for you. Just watch this trailer for a very promising film.

SYS

TV Review: Merry Madagascar

This is one of those times where TV ratings baffle me. Besides one character *possibly* being durink, I cannot imagine why this isn't G. Other than that minor quibble, there isn't much to be said about Merry Madagascar except that it's alright.

You have likely seen the two Madagascar films. This takes place between the two, when they hurt Santa Clause (GASP!!) , give him amnesia, and then have to save Christmas. A bit cliche' of a plot? Oh yes. This whole thing has been done before. But at least it's a little cute.

The whole cast has returned, including Ben Stiller, though not Sacha Baron Choen (Bruno). There is a few very funny things, like a claustrobia line, Santa's gifts to the 4 main animals and the Russian reidneer (They belong to Santa) and their war with the penguins. Some good stuff there. It's way better than the made for money only second Madagascar, so maybe this is a step in the right direction for the franchise which will become a trilogy in 2012.

Rating: B or 7.3 out of 10

SYS

Note: You can see this again on December 11, 2009 or buy it only at Wal-Mart on DVD.

Just a Note...

A review for Merry Madagascar is coming!! Do not worry! Expect that tonight. Also, I will have some new reviews like A Christmas Carol and This Is It up over the weekend. Tonight tho, ugh, it is all about Merry Madagascar and some interesting film news.

SYS

Merry Madagascar

By the way.. if your in the mood for early christmas cheer, watch Merry Madagascar tonight on NBC. I will have a review for it tomorrow. Good night.

SYS