I finally got around to seeing DreamWorks’ Megamind. It’s pretty standard DW fare, save for an ending which packs some decent action and a nice emotional twist. But for most of its length, the film is an unfunny comedy with way too much chatter.
I would point out yet again that DreamWorks will never be on par with Pixar, but Cars 2 blurs the lines, frankly.
Blenderstein is a student film from director Zach Bellissimo. While I think the short is professional-looking, I think it’s also amazingly derivative. Cartoon Brew (who’re hosting the video) say in their post that the director has an “original voice”. Apparently, the folks over at CB need to revisit the first season of John K’s Ren & Stimpy.
Blenderstein! from Cartoon Brew on Vimeo.
.
Little need be said about Cars 2 apart from the fact that it represents the long-expected downturn in Pixar’s artistic fortunes. It’s certainly the weakest of their offerings to date. While the action scenes are well-choreographed, the story is shallow and uninvolving. I thought 2006′s Cars was the least successful film to come out of Emeryville prior to this and even it had more emotional resonance than its sequel. Between directing, running two film divisions, and a theme park business, it would seem that John Lasseter is simply spreading himself too thin.
I’ve always admired the Gorillaz for their videos, but the music doesn’t thrill me as consistently as I would like. Here’s the animatic for their best track to date, “Feel Good Inc.”.
Watch this commercial for Windows and HP. Er, I mean this behind-the-scenes look at DreamWorks Animation.
Below is the first image from Pixar’s 2012 release Brave. I think the head looks like it belongs on a rubber doll, but the still is nice otherwise.
