You’d be forgiven at the moment for thinking we were nearing the end of a decade. The interwebs have been awash of late with more countdowns, best ofs, top tens and general reminiscences of the 2000’s then you could poke a digital stick at. Suddenly everybody is a critic, and while some of the countdowns have been insightful and thought-provoking, others have been….well, like this one. For the nostalgic, these countdowns are practically memory-heaven. But for those who don’t buy into that sort of stuff, it gets a little tiring. So, what better than to list some of the best (and worst) ‘best-of’ lists currently clogging up cyber-space?

Pitchfork: P2K

Over the past months American music site Pitchfork have taken an in-depth look at the decade in music. Way back in the dark ages of 2001 the site barely existed, but since then has grown to be one of the most formidable online music news and reviews sites on the net. Not only does P2K count down the best albums, songs and music videos, it also features a series of essays detailing some of the more interesting developments in music over the past ten years. Of particular note is the ‘Decade in Indie’ and the social history of the mp3.

Highlights
Best Album: Radiohead- Kid A
Best Song: Outkast- B.O.B.

Paste Magazine: The 25 best Album Covers

Slightly more obscure is Paste magazine’s countdown of the best album covers. It has been argued that as digital sales boom and physical CD sales decline, the quality of modern album art is going steadily downhill (as this cover would seem to prove). Regardless, Paste have put together an interesting countdown, which includes the likes of The Flaming Lips, Animal Collective, Arcade Fire and Lil Wayne. Whoever decided to award Neko Case’s Middle Cyclone cover as number 1 though needs to go back and re-take primary school art classes.

Highlights
Number 1: Neko Case- Middle Cyclone
Number 2: Animal Collective- Merriweather Post Pavilion (and rightly so)

The A.V. Club: The 30 best TV Shows

The problem with critics is often that their views on what is ‘good’ differs from the majority of the viewing public. Which is a shame, but it’s also the reason why most of the shows on the A.V. Club’s list of best TV shows of the decade have either ended or been cancelled. Still, it’s a formidable list. The top 3 (The Wire, Arrested Development and the Sopranos) are undoubtedly some of the finest productions since television’s inception, let alone in this decade. Other notable shows include Mad Men, Lost and The West Wing, just scraping in at number 30. The best part of this countdown though is the shitfight in the comments as to what constitutes a ‘decade’. Hilarious.

Highlights
Number 1: The Wire
Number 15: Veronica Mars
Number 22: Six Feet Under

News.com.au: Moment of the Decade

Oh, News.com.au. Purveyor of fine, quality journalism. Not content with simply telling Middle Australia what the best bits of the noughties were, good old Rupert has gone and encouraged everyone to name their own favourites! For anyone that’s ever read the comments to any article on the site, that should be enough to click your way on over. In case you need any more incentive though, today’s category is ‘Killers, Haters, Tools: Choose the Villian of the decade’. Apparently Kyle Sandilands and John Mayer are in the same league as Osama Bin Laden and Saddam Hussein. Who would have thought? The fun doesn’t stop there. Oh no siree, it doesn’t. For you creative types, you can even have a go at naming what the next decade should be called! An issue of utmost importance, of course. Seriously, the sooner this site becomes paid-only, the better.

Lowlights
Pop Culture
Money
Sex & Life
…actually, just spend a good 15 minutes trawling through the site. It’ll make your day.

Times Online: The 100 Best Movies of the Noughties

Slightly more classy news outlet Times Online went all out and counted down the top 100 cinematic releases of the decade. With everything from political drama Milk to Roman-epic Gladiator to comedy Knocked Up, the list does well to cater for everyone…up until the odd choice of The Bourne Supremacy/Ultimatum at number 2 (So really it should have been the best 101 movies). And Team America World Police in the top 5? You must be joking.

In Brief
Number 1: Hidden
Number 16: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Number 34: Finding Nemo
Number 64: Anchorman

Well that’s about it. Some of the best (and worst) countdowns of the best (and worst) things to happen in the noughties. Of course, a quick google search will reveal thousands more best-ofs then the ones here. But really, is there much point? When it comes down to it, who gets to decide that Franz Ferdinand is better than Hot Chip? Or that Monsters, Inc. deserves to place ahead of Pan’s Labyrinth?

Perhaps the best countdown of the decade should go to Hungry Beast. They look at the ten best years of the 2000’s. You can check that out here.

]]> http://blakemp.wordpress.com/2009/11/22/2-in-1-showcase-episode-146-disney-goes-boom/ Sun, 22 Nov 2009 19:21:37 +0000 blakemp http://blakemp.wordpress.com/2009/11/22/2-in-1-showcase-episode-146-disney-goes-boom/

Blake flies solo this week with an in-depth look at the Boom! Kids line of comics featuring the Disney, Pixar, and Muppet characters. Blake looks at each of the series that has been released to date, gives his thoughts on the best and the weakest, and offers a few suggestions for the future of the line. In the picks, check out the Showcase Presents Ambush Bug graphic novel, and the Assault on New Olympus Prologue one-shot! Contact us with comments, suggestions, or anything else at Showcase@comixtreme.com!

2 in 1 Showcase Episode 146: Disney Goes Boom!
Inside This Episode:

After 16 factoids, we are taking a temporary sojourn away from the world of my obsession with movie ads.  I’ll be happy to address any complaints you might have in the comments section.

I have discovered at least twice that I have had ear infections while watching a movie theater.  If the booming sounds in the theater seem muffled, then it is a wake-up call that something is wrong with my ears.  I distinctly remember realizing the infections in 2002 watching “The Wild Thornberrys Movie” and in 2003 while seeing “Finding Nemo” for the third time.

Contemplating as one of my hobbies to do a project called project 50/50 or project 365, where i take one picture each day for the how many number days i need to and publish it on Flickr.  Although not sure how it would work out round my job…so possibly start it in the new year as one of my resolutions. Hmm.  Will have some more thinking about it and let you all know

So today has been okish, really not done much at all bar watching tv, and a couple of films…free willy was the first. I can’t believe I forgot about how good and sad this film is. Always gives me goosebumps watching it, and i have no idea why. Free Willy 3 is on next weekend, although i will be working bah! But why not show Free Willy 2 next weekend, it makes no sense to miss that film out. Love that film as well.

Then i continued with my fishy theme, and watched Finding Nemo. I cannot tell you all how much I love Dory, she is my lil favourite fish, but also kind of reminds me of myself…i can be a bit dipy at times, if you havent worked that out as of yet. If not, don’t worry there is still plently more time to learn Then I decided to have a Dory/Crush and Squirt debate…so far its 2:1 to Dory Hehe.

Thought i might see awesome dudey, but he’s busy…although have spoken to him twice today hehe. And been put in a much better mood, much better than the foul mood i was in last night. And for day 1 of 7 off now, hopefully gonna stay a happy lil panda now

2003 schaffte es zum ersten Mal in diesem Jahrzehnt ein Animationsfilm an die Spitze meiner Jahrescharts. Und vermutlich würde ich ihn jederzeit wieder dorthin setzen, denn Finding Nemo gehört bis heute zu den Filmen, die ich am häufigsten gesehen habe – nicht ohne Grund. Der Film ist ein Powerhouse an Witz, Design und Story, wie es auch unter den besten Unterhaltungsfilmen selten ist.

Das war keinesfalls Liebe auf den ersten Blick. Ich glaube, erst beim dritten Sehdurchgang hatte ich den Film so richtig ins Herz geschlossen. Weil ich immer noch, oder sogar noch mehr, über die Gags lachen konnte und weil ich immer noch narrative Details entdeckte, die mich beim ersten Sehen einfach erschlagen hatten. Die ganzen Anspielungen auf australische Stereotypen beispielsweise; die Ansammlung von psychischen Problemfällen im Aquarium von P. Sherman (42 Wallaby Way, Sydney); die vielen kleinen brillanten Ideen in der Gestaltung von Nebencharakteren und in der Ausschöpfung der Unterwasserwelt.

Die einfache Geschichte von einem kleinen Clownfisch, der entführt wird und von seinem überängstlichen Vater gesucht wird, springt dabei über so viele Steine, dass es eine reine Freude ist. Im klassischer Questenmanier bekommt Vater Marlin einen Helfer zur Seite und roadmoviet sich von Station zu Station: Scharadige Schwarmfische, Quallenwald, Schildkröten, Wal, Pelikane. Währenddessen hat der im Aquarium gelandete Nemo ganz andere Probleme: Er muss verantwortliches Handeln lernen und einem tödlichen Schicksal entrinnen. Das ganze kulminiert im vielleicht einzigen etwas zu kitschigen Moment des ganzen Films – wenn dann eigentlich alle vereint sind, es aber noch eine letzte Hürde zu nehmen gilt und das gelernte angewendet werden muss. Zum Glück folgt dann kurz darauf der Epilog, der zur alten Leichtigkeit zurückfindet.

Finding Nemo hat als erster Pixar-Oscarpreisträger bisher seinen Fisch gestanden. Trotz seiner vielen Abschweifungen in der Story, hält alles zusammen – ist nicht so zerfasert wie die beiden Brad Bird-Werke The Incredibles und Ratatouille. Und ebenso wie das spätere Stanton-Werk Wall*E kommt Nemo eigentlich ohne Bösewicht aus. Der Antrieb der Figuren, den Plot voran zu treiben, stammt aus ihnen selbst.

2003 war natürlich auch das Jahr in dem ein Film, zumindest in der Award Season, alles überschattete. Der Abschluss der Lord of the Rings-Trilogie, The Return of the King hat zwar von den drei Filmen den meisten emotionalen Oomph, besteht aber gleichzeitig zu großen Teilen (wie schon The Two Towers) aus Kampfspektakel und FrodoSamGollum, die sich durch die Wüstenei schleppen. Das kann auf drei Stunden gesehen dann auch irgendwann ein bisschen anstrengen.

Und 2003 war auch ein gutes Jahr für kleinere Filme, die immer noch in meinem Gedächtnis sitzen. Elephant zum Beispiel, von Gus van Sant. Oder Herr Lehmann, mit Detlev Buck und Christian Ulmen wohl die perfekte Bebilderung von Sven Regeners kratzigem Roman. Lost in Translation, allerdings, der Indie-Hit des Jahres ist auch bei wiederholtem Sehen nicht wirklich an mich gegangen. Im Gegensatz zu 21 Grams – denn damals war das Inarritu-Prinzip noch nicht so ausgelutscht. Auch Dogville gehört mit seiner Zerstörung der Illusionskunst des Films zu den besten Filmen des Jahres. Kill Bill Volume 1 wiederum nicht – hier ist die Gewalt noch zu sinnlos und gewinnt erst durch die Vollendung der Saga einen Sinn.

Außerdem gab es noch die Fortzsetzungen der Matrix. Aber sich darüber zu beschweren, könnte ein eigenes Blog füllen.

Only 2 of the top 30 highest grossing films of this decade are original, did ya know that? Slash Film has compiled the list of the top grossing films and figured that most are not original stories. Most are based on a past film or tv show (remake/sequel), or an adaptation of an established property (be it a comic, book, play, toy…etc).

Find out more and the list after the jump!

Which is the only original feature film to make it into the the top 20 grossing films of this decade (so far)? Answer after the jump.

Finding Nemo, which lands at #15 with $864.6 million.

If you take a look at the top 30 films from this decade, there is only one other original film property among the bunch, that being…

DreamWorks Animation’s Kung Fu Panda, #30 spot with $631.7 million.

In fact, out of the top 50 grossing films of this decade, there are only 9 movies based on original properties. And five of those nine films were created by Pixar Animation Studios. How sad…

1 The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King New Line Cinema $1,119,110,941 2003
2 Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest Disney $1,066,179,725 2006
3 The Dark Knight Warner Bros. $1,001,921,825 2008
4 Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone Warner Bros. $974,733,550 2001
5 Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End Disney $960,996,492 2007
6 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix Warner Bros. $938,212,738 2007
7 Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince Warner Bros. $929,022,922 2009
8 The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers New Line Cinema $925,282,504 2002
9 Shrek 2 DreamWorks SKG $919,838,758 2004
10 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire Warner Bros. $895,921,036 2005
11 Spider-Man 3 Columbia $890,871,626 2007
12 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets Warner Bros. $878,643,482 2002
13 Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs 20th Century Fox $878,615,229 2009
14 The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring New Line Cinema $870,761,744 2001
15 Finding Nemo Disney / Pixar $864,625,978 2003
16 Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith 20th Century Fox $848,754,768 2005
17 Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen Paramount $833,229,011 2009
18 Spider-Man Columbia $821,708,551 2002
19 Shrek the Third DreamWorks SKG $798,958,162 2007
20 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban Warner Bros. $795,634,069 2004
21 Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull Paramount $786,636,033 2008
22 Spider-Man 2 Columbia $783,766,341 2004
23 The Da Vinci Code Sony / Columbia $758,239,851 2006
24 The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe Disney $745,011,272 2005
25 The Matrix Reloaded Warner Bros. $742,128,461 2003
26 Transformers DreamWorks / Paramount $709,709,780 2007
27 Ice Age: The Meltdown 20th Century Fox $655,388,158 2006
28 Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl Disney $654,264,015 2003
29 Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones 20th Century Fox $649,398,328 2002
30 Kung Fu Panda DreamWorks SKG $631,736,484 2008
31 The Incredibles Disney / Pixar $631,442,092 2004
32 Hancock Columbia $624,386,746 2008
33 Ratatouille Disney / Pixar $623,707,397 2007
34 The Passion of the Christ Newmarket $611,899,420 2004
35 Mamma Mia! Universal $609,841,637 2008
36 Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa DreamWorks SKG $603,900,344 2008
37 Casino Royale MGM / Columbia $594,239,066 2006
38 War of the Worlds DreamWorks / Paramount $591,745,540 2005
39 Quantum of Solace MGM / Columbia $586,090,727 2008
40 I Am Legend Warner Bros. $585,349,010 2007
41 Iron Man Paramount $585,133,287 2008
42 Night at the Museum 20th Century Fox $574,480,450 2006
43 King Kong Universal $550,517,357 2005
44 Mission: Impossible II Paramount $546,388,105 2000
45 The Day After Tomorrow 20th Century Fox $544,272,402 2004
46 Madagascar DreamWorks SKG $532,680,671 2005
47 The Simpsons Movie 20th Century Fox $527,071,022 2007
48 Monsters, Inc. Disney / Pixar $525,366,597 2001
49 WALL-E Disney / Pixar $521,268,237 2008
50 Meet the Fockers Universal $516,642,939 2004

We took our kids to the movies to watch a kid film. Occasionally they don’t enjoy kid films, feeling they are too old for the story at times. “Finding Nemo” has become one of these. I watch it from time to time and they ultimately end up on the couch with me, but they insist that it is too little for them.
But this trip to the cinema proved just the opposite, with my wife and I enjoying the film better than our daughters. It wasn’t too young but rather too intense. I’m not bashing the film. The depths of the emotions (anger, fear, loneliness, sadness) was greater than they were ready to experience in one one hundred minute dose. They even enjoyed it for the most part; it was more of a cumulative effect.
The film was “Where the Wild Things Are”. When I first heard this film was being made, I didn’t want to see it. I enjoyed the book more as an adult than as a kid, but I felt certain the movie would suck. Recent history supports this. Most attempts to stretch a children’s picture book into a feature length film results in horrendous bastardizations of the original story. I changed my mind when I heard that Spike Jonze was directing. I love his films. It was a hard to picture him doing something for kids, but I knew it would be good. Then the trailers made it obvious that they had captured the look Maurice’s Sendak’s art. It was worth the gamble.
The story of a child being overwhelmed by his life and losing control of his emotions resulting in his running away caught my attention. For one thing, the film, like the original story, has the power to magically transform me into a kid Max’s age. I think this stems from an understanding for and strong remembrance of childhood expressed by the director, writers and actors, returning themselves to what it feels like to be that age too. Then they took the story deeper without adding much to it. Then the filmmakers let this all become real, to mimic life and kids without attempts to pretty up everything for a nice Hollywood experience.
The true beauty of this film wasn’t just a journey into the imagination but also a journey inward. Max, when facing the wild things, is actually facing his emotions. These are big, scary things he can barely control, even as their supposed king. The feeling that they will destroy him and consume him sounds all too familiar. The reality is that even as adults feel this way, so too do kids. They are humans and have the full human array of emotions even though they don’t have the language to articulate it; they also the ability to experience them more deeply because they haven’t always built up defenses and filters like adults. Too often, because children don’t have these complexities we forget that they can still experience the full complexity of feelings.
That reminder is the power of this film.

That bastion of truth Wikipedia has compiled a list of the highest grossing flicks of this decade so far, and if you look closer at the top 20 films at the box office, only one movie has not been based on a past film or (remake/sequel), or an adaptation of an established property. You know the sources: comic, book, play, Hasbro toy etc. I highlighted in a previous post (quite brilliantly…) the upcoming film releases based on old products. However, I did not realise the full extent of the Old Rope+Short Attention Span=Money formulae.

Want to know the the only original feature film to make it into the the top 20 of this decade?

Finding Nemo, which nestles in well at #15 with $864.6 million.

Further still, if you look at the top 30 films from this decade thus far, there is only one other original film property among the pack

DreamWorks Animation’s Kung Fu Panda, #30 spot with $631.7 million.

Worryingly, out of the top 50 grossing films of this decade, there are only 9 movies based on original premises and properties. Out of the nine, five, yes FIVE of those nine films have come from the Pixar Studios camp. A damning indictment to an industry built on grandiose spectacles. How spectacular can something be in its third incarnation? Maybe Up! wasn’t the rendered Citizen Kane it has become accepted as, rather, an original story that dared to depict death in a children’s movie.

Cheers Pixar.

As for the rest of you layabouts….

You can find the entire top 50 below:

1 The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King New Line Cinema $1,119,110,941 2003
2 Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest Disney $1,066,179,725 2006
3 The Dark Knight Warner Bros. $1,001,921,825 2008
4 Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone Warner Bros. $974,733,550 2001
5 Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End Disney $960,996,492 2007
6 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix Warner Bros. $938,212,738 2007
7 Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince Warner Bros. $929,022,922 2009
8 The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers New Line Cinema $925,282,504 2002
9 Shrek 2 DreamWorks SKG $919,838,758 2004
10 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire Warner Bros. $895,921,036 2005
11 Spider-Man 3 Columbia $890,871,626 2007
12 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets Warner Bros. $878,643,482 2002
13 Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs 20th Century Fox $878,615,229 2009
14 The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring New Line Cinema $870,761,744 2001
15 Finding Nemo Disney / Pixar $864,625,978 2003
16 Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith 20th Century Fox $848,754,768 2005
17 Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen Paramount $833,229,011 2009
18 Spider-Man Columbia $821,708,551 2002
19 Shrek the Third DreamWorks SKG $798,958,162 2007
20 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban Warner Bros. $795,634,069 2004
21 Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull Paramount $786,636,033 2008
22 Spider-Man 2 Columbia $783,766,341 2004
23 The Da Vinci Code Sony / Columbia $758,239,851 2006
24 The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe Disney $745,011,272 2005
25 The Matrix Reloaded Warner Bros. $742,128,461 2003
26 Transformers DreamWorks / Paramount $709,709,780 2007
27 Ice Age: The Meltdown 20th Century Fox $655,388,158 2006
28 Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl Disney $654,264,015 2003
29 Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones 20th Century Fox $649,398,328 2002
30 Kung Fu Panda DreamWorks SKG $631,736,484 2008
31 The Incredibles Disney / Pixar $631,442,092 2004
32 Hancock Columbia $624,386,746 2008
33 Ratatouille Disney / Pixar $623,707,397 2007
34 The Passion of the Christ Newmarket $611,899,420 2004
35 Mamma Mia! Universal $609,841,637 2008
36 Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa DreamWorks SKG $603,900,344 2008
37 Casino Royale MGM / Columbia $594,239,066 2006
38 War of the Worlds DreamWorks / Paramount $591,745,540 2005
39 Quantum of Solace MGM / Columbia $586,090,727 2008
40 I Am Legend Warner Bros. $585,349,010 2007
41 Iron Man Paramount $585,133,287 2008
42 Night at the Museum 20th Century Fox $574,480,450 2006
43 King Kong Universal $550,517,357 2005
44 Mission: Impossible II Paramount $546,388,105 2000
45 The Day After Tomorrow 20th Century Fox $544,272,402 2004
46 Madagascar DreamWorks SKG $532,680,671 2005
47 The Simpsons Movie 20th Century Fox $527,071,022 2007
48 Monsters, Inc. Disney / Pixar $525,366,597 2001
49 WALL-E Disney / Pixar $521,268,237 2008
50 Meet the Fockers Universal $516,642,939 2004

Dré

来源，/Film

在过去的十年内，如果列出最赚钱的20部电影，会发现其中19部，都是来源自小说，漫画，玩具等等，要么就是翻拍和续集。真正可以称为原创的，只有一部。。。。。

《Finding Nemo》海底总动员！

把这个范围扩大到前三十，也只多出一部原创来：

《Kongfu Panda》功夫熊猫

实际上在前五十里面，一共只有9部电影，拥有自己的原创故事。而其中五部都来自pixar。。。My hat’s off to Pixar。。。。

1 The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King New Line Cinema $1,119,110,941 2003
2 Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest Disney $1,066,179,725 2006
3 The Dark Knight Warner Bros. $1,001,921,825 2008
4 Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone Warner Bros. $974,733,550 2001
5 Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End Disney $960,996,492 2007
6 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix Warner Bros. $938,212,738 2007
7 Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince Warner Bros. $929,022,922 2009
8 The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers New Line Cinema $925,282,504 2002
9 Shrek 2 DreamWorks SKG $919,838,758 2004
10 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire Warner Bros. $895,921,036 2005
11 Spider-Man 3 Columbia $890,871,626 2007
12 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets Warner Bros. $878,643,482 2002
13 Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs 20th Century Fox $878,615,229 2009
14 The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring New Line Cinema $870,761,744 2001
15 Finding Nemo Disney / Pixar $864,625,978 2003
16 Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith 20th Century Fox $848,754,768 2005
17 Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen Paramount $833,229,011 2009
18 Spider-Man Columbia $821,708,551 2002
19 Shrek the Third DreamWorks SKG $798,958,162 2007
20 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban Warner Bros. $795,634,069 2004
21 Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull Paramount $786,636,033 2008
22 Spider-Man 2 Columbia $783,766,341 2004
23 The Da Vinci Code Sony / Columbia $758,239,851 2006
24 The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe Disney $745,011,272 2005
25 The Matrix Reloaded Warner Bros. $742,128,461 2003
26 Transformers DreamWorks / Paramount $709,709,780 2007
27 Ice Age: The Meltdown 20th Century Fox $655,388,158 2006
28 Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl Disney $654,264,015 2003
29 Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones 20th Century Fox $649,398,328 2002
30 Kung Fu Panda DreamWorks SKG $631,736,484 2008
31 The Incredibles Disney / Pixar $631,442,092 2004
32 Hancock Columbia $624,386,746 2008
33 Ratatouille Disney / Pixar $623,707,397 2007
34 The Passion of the Christ Newmarket $611,899,420 2004
35 Mamma Mia! Universal $609,841,637 2008
36 Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa DreamWorks SKG $603,900,344 2008
37 Casino Royale MGM / Columbia $594,239,066 2006
38 War of the Worlds DreamWorks / Paramount $591,745,540 2005
39 Quantum of Solace MGM / Columbia $586,090,727 2008
40 I Am Legend Warner Bros. $585,349,010 2007
41 Iron Man Paramount $585,133,287 2008
42 Night at the Museum 20th Century Fox $574,480,450 2006
43 King Kong Universal $550,517,357 2005
44 Mission: Impossible II Paramount $546,388,105 2000
45 The Day After Tomorrow 20th Century Fox $544,272,402 2004
46 Madagascar DreamWorks SKG $532,680,671 2005
47 The Simpsons Movie 20th Century Fox $527,071,022 2007
48 Monsters, Inc. Disney / Pixar $525,366,597 2001
49 WALL-E Disney / Pixar $521,268,237 2008
50 Meet the Fockers Universal $516,642,939 2004

有没有看错！连Hancock这种要故事没故事，要表演没表演的片子，居然也排在32，位列超人家族和小鼠大厨中间。
这是怎么一回事！！！出离愤怒！！！

（画外音：Hancock的票房也有你一份贡献的。。。calm down。。。）
（画画外音：我去电影院看了Hancock这种烂片？不是吧？不是真的吧？没有发生过。我不承认。你拿出证据来）

…aaaanndd we’re back!

- If you live in Florida and you care even a little bit about letting responsible adults choose for themselves whether or not they feel that marijuana, a completely naturally occurring plant that has yet to kill a single person in the history of mankind, would be an effective treatment for their ailments, sign this petition sponsored by People United For Medical Marijuana for a constitutional amendment that “gives patients the right to grow, obtain, purchase and possess medical marijuana under a doctor’s supervision.” Pharmaceutical companies have been gouging the American public for decades, and have spent untold millions, if not billions, fighting the legalization of marijuana for anyone, and especially those who could use it, because the idea of a easily grown multiple-use panacea like marijuana is anathema to their entire business plan. Fight it.
- I would imagine choosing the 15 hottest big-breasted Japanese gravure models is something like figuring out who the best 15 NBA players are, or what the best types of candy are – no matter what, everyone comes away satisfied.
- Jessica Alba getting spanked. Just…wow.
- This is really pathetic: out of the top 30 grossing films of this decade, two weren’t remakes or sequels or adaptations of established properties, “Finding Nemo” and “Kung Fu Panda”. That’s it. I wonder when people are gonna be so over all of it that they go back to books.
- Miss Universe Japan 2008 Hiroko Mima. Miss Universe Trinidad & Tobago 2008 Anya Ayoung-Chee. Oh, and Anya’s boyfriend. Together, naked in a hotel room with a video camera. What’s the worst that could happen?
- “Men suck at eating pussy; not because they don’t like it, but because it’s really fucking hard.” Oh, internet – you never disappoint, do you?
- Back when Arizona State University decided against giving President Barack Obama an honorary degree when he delivered a speech there, a lot of people asked, “What does ASU have going for it?” Well…
- It may be considered contemporary art, and it may only reach 20 mph when it’s all said and done, but damn turning an old-school SEGA Outrun arcade game into an actual working vehicle? That’s so fucking cool.
- I don’t watch “Dancing With The Stars”, but the fact that Joanna Krupa and Mya were on this season almost pulled me in. Especially Mya; I’ve been checking for her since she was making songs with Silkk the Shocker.
- “Sir! The Romulans have launched a bevy of photon torpedoes across our starboard bow, reducing our shields to 23% and…is that fucking R2-D2?”
- Look – we’re all nerds, OK? It’s just that some of us don’t know what type of nerd we are; that’s where this handy quiz comes in.
- Some people out there can’t stand the Wii. They say it’s not a real console, it’s meant to gouge the pockets of gullible families, blah blah blah. If you think that way, check this collection of videos out, and let me know if you still feel the same.
- Sigh…honestly? If you’re gonna fuck around with a C-string, just don’t wear panties at all. Seriously, at that point underwear’s just more trouble than it’s worth.
- Everyday I hear about something that brings a smile to my face, because it reminds me that despite all the crap going on in the world, I’m living in “the future”, where the miracles of science are limited only be the bounds of human imagination. Today? “Scientists create bacteria that lights up around landmines.”
- Slayer and Megadeth are on tour with Testament, and tickets are only $10! It’s 1991’s “Clash of the Titans” all over again!
- On June 12, 1970, San Diego Padres pitcher Dock Ellis pitched a no-hitter. An impressive feat, but not all that historically noteworthy…until it came out that Ellis was massively tripping on LSD the whole time. This is his story:

This absolutely blew me away.  If I ever need proof that the last 10 years of Hollywood have been mostly devoid of originality, I no longer have to search any farther.  /Film recently authored a post responding to Wikipedia’s listing of the top 50 highest grossing movies of the past decade.  Of the top 50, only NINE were original titles.  That is, not based on a previous story whether that be a comic book, TV show, play, clothing line, Disney Ride, whatever.  In fact, in the top 20 only one title (#15) emerged without owing allegiance to a previously liscensed property.  That being: Finding Nemo.  It’s absolutely staggering to think that since 1999 eighty percent of the highest grossing films were adaptations of some sort. 

Now, while it is imperitive to keep in mind that this list constitutes highest grossing box offices and not ALL of cinema over the last 10 years, it does still make a very declaritive statement about the state of film as we have come to know it.  The box office numbers drive production and Hollywood’s willingness to greenlight projects.  And if you were a number’s analyst, wouldn’t you lean more heavily towards projects you knew were going to profit for the studio?  With adaptations and revamps becoming a monetary must for studios, it seems fair to assume that we have a long way to go through the storm of upcoming adaptations.  In case you hadn’t heard the apocalypse-inducing news, Hollywood just recently went on a greenlighting frenzy to board game and toy properties, each of which makes the one before it look less and less absurd.  The laundry list goes as such:

_Candyland
_Battleship
_Risk
_Ouija
_Monopoly
_Clue

And those are just the movies about BOARD GAME adaptations. When you take into account the multitude of ALL upcoming adaptations, the figures are staggering. What’s even more interesting is the cast and crew that are attached to these projects. Ridley Scott is directing Monopoly. Etan Cohen (writer of both Idiocracy and Tropic Thunder) is writing Candyland. And when I last checked, Gore Verbinski was attached to Clue! It sounds insane but these big budget, fully backed films are even getting certified production teams. So while the most prudent reaction would be to sit back and give each production its due and allow these upgrades to try to speak for themselves and deliver a compelling revamped storyline to a priceless piece of Americana, I can’t help but worry that this is going to plunge us into a period of unoriginality the likes of which Hollywood has never seen. The question I’m most concerned with is, do we really want our generation of cinema-storians to be remembered as the era of the remake and revamp?

Weez off to find Nemo and tartar sauce

Too layt!

Picture by: dunno source Caption by: dunno source via Loldog Builder

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~From Finding Nemo. Dory to Marlin.

I remember once being provided an anology by a pastor, that when Jesus came down to earth, it was LITERALLY like he became a fish.  Imagine that humans are all fish.  He was formerly all God; but now He was all God, and all man.  He sacrificed much coming down to earth, and “emptied himself“.  And we were like fish, stuck seeing the world right in front of them, stuck swimming in circles; never running outside of the bowl, finding Nemo adventures.

Truly amazing.

Bud Luckey, ex-Pixar character creator and me – Actual nerd swoon…

Woody, Buzz Lightyear, Nemo, The Incredibles. That fact that you know who and what I’m talking about without any real elaboration speaks volumes about how massive Pixar has become and how ingrained into popular culture these magical characters have become. All of the major Pixar characters from between the Toy Story and Ratatouille years were conceptualised, created and brought to life by the iconic character designer, animator, musician and, apparently, tap dancer Bud Luckey.

Without a doubt the key attraction of this inaugural NEoN Digital Arts Festival, taking place this weekend across the city of Dundee (follow my live tweets at @davescook), Bud’s Q&A session yesterday was an emotional and moving insight into the mind and back story of a true media legend.

You may have seen his most popular work, the oscar-nominated short Boundin’ and if you haven’t, watch this then read on.

Rather than work this into an article, I have simply transcribed the session as best as I could below for you to enjoy, so without more rambling, read on and be inspired.

Interviewees are Colin Anderson from legendary Scottish games developer Denki and Scott Downie from Hungryboy.

Colin: You were born and raised in billing Montana, i’ve never been there, what was it like?

Bud: I lived in the plains area of Montana surrounded by rim rock, 60 miles from the beartooth mountains where I live now. When I grew up there was about 23,000 people living there, now there is something like 120,000 people and it’s changed beyond recognition. When a building there is 30 years old they tear it down immedietly and build a new, but in Scotland you keep it up. It’s a nice little town.

Luckily, we had good art departments in the schools that really helped me. The high school taught commercial art and sign painting so I painted signs in high school and I also painted the mural on the high school wall. It’s still there today.

Colin: What were your first drawing materials?

Bud: My sister taught me at age five or six to break a brick on the sidewalk and draw using the bits. But at an early ag I had to learn not to fall in love with my drawings, because I used to draw on a flat area of concrete in my neighbour’s driveway. I would sit all day and draw on it and the neighbour would drive right over it when he got home from work. I’d go hide in the bushes and he’d come out swearing and remove what I did, so the next day I had to start all over again.

Colin: And what were your early inspirations for wanting to become an animator?

Bud: When I was a kid, the first movie I ever saw was Snow White and after seeing that, black and white live action movies dissappointed me, as I thought to myself: ‘I can see all that real-world stuff out here actually in the real world’. It really lacked the colour of animation, so when I grew up,  I wanted to be Walt Disney.

Scott: What then directed you towards Walt Disney?

Bud: I kind of knew I wanted to be an animator at the beginning and I saw lots of clips of animators drawing and I didn’t realise that the canvas was being slowed down to speed up the action on screen, so I tried to copy it literally at home by drawing super fast and I became known as a speed drawer. That reputation stayed with me and I was known as a quick drawer at Pixar. I had my own studio in San Fran and did everything independently, so I had to draw fast.

Scott: Inspired in high school, did you have good teachers?

Bud: Yeah, I did sign painting and used to paint cartoons on the side of hot rod racers as well. I made about two or three bucks for my art. They would race and mess up my art, so I had to start over. When I went into the air force for basic training, you had to go to a congregation chaplain.

He was also chief educator for all chaplains coming into the air force, so he asked me what I did and I told him I liked to draw. So then he asked me if I had any ideas as he needed an illustrator. I then found myself drawing cards for him and when the artist illustrator for the chaplin had to leave service early, I was recommended to fill the role at the age of 19 based on some cards I had made. Was given all of the art materials I needed. It was a good deal.

Colin: So you left the military in the late 50’s?

Bud: Yeah, but I also illustrated some books on how to fly for the military and I even put smiley faces on the planes. So I sent some drawings to Disney drawing school which had then closed, but they asked me to take my work down to show them anyway. But unfortunately, my car blew up on the way in Sacramento, so I had to take the train on the way and was late. Sadly, I got a call from Disney saying they just laid of loads of staff and said sorry and I was left looking for something else.

Then the GI Bill was implemented. It was a government bill that said people who served in the forces got extra tuition and money that really helped me and made a significant difference to my life. After this I went to train under the ex-head of the Disney school, who did the hippo scene in Fantasia. Mark Davis taught me animation drawing and I was well connected through Disney and for two years I got Disney scholarships. There was also a TV class and I got called aside and told an animation company as looking for a trainee so I went for it. Then I got a lot of work and eventually worked up to professional art classes in South California.

Scott: Did the practical application of animation inspire you?

Bud: Yes, but I semi-dropped out of school and worked at a sandwich shop, which was a Tony’s sandwich shop and a lot of movie stars would come in there. I cgot a call from one of my tutors saying ‘Bud you shouldn’t be making sandwiches, you should be working, I’ll give you a recommendation to any place in town’. So thanks to that I got a job at CBS, but got laid off a few weeks before Christmas, which wasn’t so bad because across the hall from me was where they made Popeye and the sound of Popeye dialogue drove me nuts.

Plus, I never liked LA, I hated it and I still do. So I moved on and spent a few weeks in San Fransisco to do some assistant work, which was great because I am a big New Orleans jazz fan so it was a good scene. I frequently got put up in a hotel where all the musicians hung out, man it was wild. And after a while I went back to LA and hated it again, so decided I would actually move to San Francisco and be a milkman, postman, whatever it took to make it in animation.

But luckily, I worked for a few months in a small movie studio in San Fran then got promoted to storyboards and at that time, in one night I’d make as much as I used to in a month. I worked my way up to TV art director working on adverts for Skippy peanut butter and I held that job for six years, worked my way up to senior tv art director and worked on Snoopy and Peanuts commercials. I started drawing snoopy and company until a friend of mine called me saying ‘we just signed on to do education commercials for something called Sesame Street in New York’.

Colin: And your first cartoon for Sesame Street was Infinity (we then watched the clip of Infinity, which was incredibly emotional)

Bud: I started working on the ‘Infinity’ sketch for the show and did all the drawing, most of the colouring, but that was the first thing I did myself from beginning to end. When I finished the project I said I don’t want to be an advert creator any more.

Colin: Just to go back to your advert work for a moment, what is the creative process of advert making?

Bud: An ad exec would come to you with a brief for a product, then we would come up with multiple concepts for the ad campaign, but we would have to make three or four different concepts that could potentially be used.

Colin: John Lassetar at Pixar has gone on record to say that the commission for your oscar-nominated short Boundin’ was the easiest decision he ever made in his life.

Bud: Yeah was onboard from the start as it was a chance for us to train young animators and in the case of Boundin’, one of the key lessons was light reflection. The Boundin; song was a new idea, but one that I worked on at great length, as well as creating all of the characters.

Colin: And you actually went into the pitching session and sang the Boundin’ song to the team?

Bud: Yeah *laughs*

Scott: Have you seen artists or animators break when work gets rejected?

Bud: Oh yeah, when their work gets ripped to shreds, but at Pixar, people just move on and get on with it as it costs a lot of money to make their movies. Pitching can be fierce.

Colin: You are the first person to retire from Pixar. *massive applause* Where next for Bud Luckey?

Bud: Well, when i was there, I was about 25 years older than the nect oldest guy there. I have a place in Montana now and I’m working on a mural outside of my house. I also turned my shed into a studio and I’m doing watercolours of sheep now.

Colin: Pixar has its own university, called Pixar University. Were you ever involved?

Bud: I taught a class on animation and drawing and they offered all kinds of classes; pilates, belly dancing. The odd classes are of the ‘get out there and do it’ ethos of Pixar and I also did tap dancing at the university. It really is a great company. They took the kids to Venezuela to research Up, but for A Bug’s Life I just looked at my front garden *laughs*.We also took the Route 66 road trip for Cars.

——————–

There you have it, a superb insight into an incredibly iconic and influential man. We then watched Bud’s short Boundin’ and it was incredibly moving. Share your thoughts and experience of Bud’s work in the comment box.

While Brett has been away having fun without the Noodle and I this is what we’ve been doing.

Crying.

Because I won’t open the garage door and Dad does.

Playing in the watering can.

Because after all that crying it was the only thing that made him happy.

Hanging with Abby.

Because when there’s nothing better to do, you can always go to the park and feed the ducks. And get attacked by geese.

Watching Nemo.

Because it is the newest obsession. And I mean OBSESSION. He wants to watch it all day from the minute he wakes up.

It’s been fun having the little guy all to myself the last couple of days, but we miss Brett. I will be so glad when he comes home tomorrow.

who doesn’t like Dory? =)) she’s just hilarious

Dory of Finding Nemo is one of my favorite movie characters ever. Yes, I love that seemingly absent-minded cartoon fish. For those of you who haven’t seen the film (add it to your Netflix queue asap), Dory is a fish that Marlon meets while trying to find his son, Nemo. She has no short-term memory, yet she has managed to enjoy life with her “imperfection” by telling herself to “just keep swimming.”  That little line is, hands down, my favorite movie line, probably of all time. It’s such a simple phrase, but it can be so hard to follow sometimes. How do you “just keep swimming” when you don’t know what you’re swimming toward? I mean, sure we have goals we want to achieve, but obstacles will always get in the way. All we can really do is be strong, swim right through those obstacles and come out even stronger. So, the next time you come to a road block in your life, sing this song to yourself.

Have an awesome day, my pretty peeps!

I love Sunday double bills. Your life is empty and there’s nothing to do so you indulge yourself and see two films. And then, after the event, you stop and think… That was a double bill. Ok, not really. Not in the old fashioned sense when you’d pay once to see two films shown one after the other…

Quick diversion. I’m a student in Manchester in 1980. I’ve never seen The Exorcist.  When it came out I was only 11. And now it’s on in a double bill at the lovely sleazy old cinema that used to exist on Oxford Road. And I’m only just turned 18. How exciting. Two “x” certificate films! I guess I may as well see the two, after all they are “x”; so much better and darker and forbidding and foreboding than the feeble “18″ certificate presented to kids of today. So, before The Exorcist I watch a film I’ve never heard of; Taxi Driver. That’s a double bill.

Back to today. With my double bills I always like to have a connection. Sometimes I forget and have to work hard afterwards. For example, a few years back I went to the Peckham Premier and had a double bill of the remake of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Finding Nemo. Connection? They are both deeply disturbing films that will scar you for life.

Todays’ connection; words that are similar but not the same: goats and ghosts. First up, The Men Who stare at Goats.

I was looking forward to this. Keen to enjoy it. And so I did.

It’s based on Jon Ronson’s TV documentary. Sort of. I guess that’s the problem.

Jon made a great documentary about these psychic warriors; soldiers in the US, funded to look into such things as remote viewing, and warfare free from weaponry and death. Jon’s style made it a joy. He belongs to the Louis Theroux camp of investigative journalism (or Louis belongs to his), where a faux naivete results in astonishingly frank and uninhibited responses from his interviewees. Try and see the documentary, part of a series on Channel 4 called The Secret Rulers of the World.

The documentary was a crazy as anything in this film. But the documentary had Jon Ronson. The film’s got Ewan McGregor.

If you like the likes of Clooney, Spacey and Bridges gooning about (and I do) then you’ll enjoy this film.

That’s that. But see if when you click on the trailer the same thing happens to you as to me. Does an advert pop up? For Ronson lighters? Mr Jon, shame on you!

Next up, and I can’t write for long or I’ll miss my train home (I’m bashing this out over a pint of Theakston’s and some wasabi nuts  in the foyer at the Royal Festival Hall) is the ghost film. It’s A Christmas Carol!

Well… this film is downright freaky.

That must be why they’ve released it so early. I don’t know about you, but I try not to think about Christmas until at least the 17th December. But this one- they’ve brought it out in early November. It’s a Guy Fawkes movie! It’ll have been and gone by Christmas, only to be replaced, no doubt, I hope, by some whimsy involving Steve Martin and The Rock pulling a cracker and seeing who gets the hat and who gets the joke.

You know the story. For those who’ve not read the book (me being one), it’s Scrooge. And it’s Jim Carrey as Scrooge. And the ghosts. And it’s a cartoon. And it’s in 3D.

That’s it. Except…

It’s that weird animation. Like in Robert Zemeckis’ other goes- The Polar Express and Beowulf. All the people look like waxworks and it spooks you out.

But Bob’s good at the 3D stuff. Scrooge flies around Victorian London. He’s big, he’s small. He slides off rooftops, he hides in drainpipes. If you want to go crazy in 3D London, Bob’s your man.

Oh, and know your story in advance.

I’m sure Robert Zemeckis has written a good script. Surely. It’s just that Jim Carrey… well, he loves those voices. one minute he’s the cast of Eastenders, next he’s Roy Cropper in Corrie. Honestly, I enjoyed the film, but I could barely understand a word he said.

Right. That’s that. Got to go and get that train. To Hither Green, not the North Pole. Sadly.

If it hasn’t come across, I did enjoy both of today’s films.

Source: Photobucket

Last night I went to see Disney Pixars ‘UP’ in 3D and I am still not too sure what I thought about it.

Firstly I was disappointed with the 3D element. There wasn’t much of it. I was expecting things to come shooting out in front of me but there was not many moments like that. The most 3D parts were the advertisements before the film started.

The story was what I would describe as bizarre. It was about aboy who met a girl because they were both interested in a famous pilot. The boy and girl marry and grow old together. The girl, Ellie passes away when she gets old and leaves her husband alone in a house surrounded by a building site. Instead of being moved into a retirement home, the old man, Carl ties hundreds of balloons to his house and it floats away.

He wants to land his house near a waterfall where Ellie had dreamed about living. He is accompanied by a young boy, Russell. Together they befriend a dog and a large bird and eventually make it to the waterfall, but first they meet the infamous pilot, Charles F. Muntz who is not as nice as he seems.

I will not give away the ending of the film but it is not what I expected. I don’t know what I really think about the film. It is not the best Pixar film I have seen and is nowhere near as good as Toy Story, Finding Nemo or A Bugs Life. But maybe it is because I am used to watching top quality Pixar films. But for me, ‘UP’ did not quite blow me away.

Today I pulled out and separated items that I intend to put in the store for the opening and it looks like I do not have quite as many as I was hoping to have. We will see.

Finished another shrug for the most part. The going price for shrugs will be about 275$

I am also considering placing my Foundling Nemo hat in the shop. It is a heavily modified version of a Knitty pattern called “Dead or Alive?” To best insure I did not end up with an angry designer or fan of that designer I have contacted her for permission for the one-time sale for this heavily modified version of her pattern. So if it is in the store and you want it – act fast because I do not intend to have another one up for sale.