The Cartoon Hero vs. Strange Magic from Eli Stone on Vimeo.
Time to conclude Star Wars Month with...a pretty infamous movie that's not quite Star Wars, but from the mind of its creator.
Also, I forgot to credit Love's LabourS Lost...whoops.
The Cartoon Hero vs. Strange Magic from Eli Stone on Vimeo.
Your Dailymotion seems to be down right now, brah. I can't get this video to work there at all, though it did work on Vimeo.
ReplyDeleteWell, though. This is... awkward. Heh heh. This was... actually the exact movie I planned on donating to your Patreon to ask you to review, once I got access to my funds back. Well, actually, I was planning on asking for a compare/contrast with this movie and The Book of Life. Both are jukebox musicals about the subject of love which also happen to be "passion projects" for well-known directors, which seemed like fertile ground for comparison.
I'm going to be completely honest. I'm... actually BAFFLED that this movie got so crapped on while The Book of Life got a free pass. I guess that's the power of having a "better" name attached to you, even though George Lucas didn't direct this, he just suggest the story, and most of the directorial action was helmed by former Pixar staffers like Brenda Chapman and Gary Rydstrom. I wonder if the movie would've been reviewed better with the Pixar connection featured more strongly? Don't get me wrong, I still liked Book of Life, but I found its jukebox musical-ness WAY more baffling and poorly utilized than this movie's. I actually really like the way this movie weaves classic rock and pop songs throughout its soundtrack, such as using Barracuda, People are Strange, and Bad Romance as instrumentals, while in Book of Life... man, Radiohead's "Creep?" That one just came right the frick outta nowhere for me. And as a person of the female persuasion that has a sister, I actually rather liked the way this movie portrayed the sisterly relationship between Marianne and Dawn. I like this movie's female characters quite a bit more than Book of Life's--Maria always struck me as a bit too "Hollywood Strong Female Character," who's Contractually Obligated to be always badass so the girls have an Empowering Role Model. I liked the fact that Marianne was allowed to show weakness and have more tangible flaws. But I think BOTH movies have pretty godawful pacing and kinda convoluted story structures.
Wow, I noticed the jukebox similarities too. I adore both films, but how interesting that they both had that element.
DeleteAlso, I agree about Maria; I liked her but the line about knowing kung fu was kinda silly. She already had an independent attitude and knew how to sword fight; she doesn't need to know a martial art to be cool. I would believe it if she learned lucha liver, but not Kung fu. Just a nitpick.
If it makes you feel better, I can still do that :P I haven't seen The Book of Life yet, but I'd gladly do it.
Delete"Lucha liver"? Did ya mean "Lucha Libre"?
DeleteMan, the art style for this movie looks so ugly, especially the faces. Definitely not watching this one.
ReplyDeleteIf I may, I think the reason why Sam Palladio is using a Southern accent in this film is because that's what he's known for with his work on "Nashville". Plus, a British antagonist is as you would put it, "cliched"; a Southern charmer antagonist is much funnier. Heck, Matthew McConaughey was actually considered for this role; I know this because as part of the small "Strange Magic" tumblr fandom, we got to video chat with two animators of the film and the voice of Dawn.
ReplyDeleteI really wished you would have liked this film, but everyone has their own opinion and that's ok. Just wanted to comment a bit to let it be known that the film wasn't a total loss in gaining an audience because I personally love this film and not in a "so bad, it's good" way.
You really deserve a pat on the back for Star Wars Month Hero. You busted your ass to get any and all info you could on multiple series, and mad an entertaining month of reviews out of it, and you had to a patreon review as well. Funnily enough though, Ultraman kinda fits in with Star Wars in my opinion.
ReplyDelete