Moving Pictures

As I said before, my cleverness at hurting my shoulder gave me a chance to catch up on some of the films I'd missed in the last few months.

I've finally seen Sky Captain And The World Of Tomorrow and it was pretty cool. It was one of the first films shot entirely on green-screen, with a whole bundle of CG sets and landscapes. While it wasn't exactly Mr Law or Miss Paltrow's finest hours in their respective acting careers, it was a fun bundle of popcorn and shiny lights. The style was of the 40s and 50s movie serials, with lots of retro tech and giant robots and things. My main criticism is that a lot of the movie was just too dark. Not thematically, but in the actual "where's the light? I can't see what's going on!" sense. I really liked the naff sensibilities of this one, the sense of fun that everyone was having was clear and Angelina in vinyl is always welcome, especially with a nifty British accent. The technical achievement of the film shouldn't be overlooked, but overall this one was a fun diversion, effective but flawed.

I'll give Sky Captain 3 amphibious planes out of five

And on to the next highly-stylised bit of weirdness. This time I whacked Corpse Bride into the player and I was enthralled. I'm going to steal a concept from a review I read (I cannae remember where) and say that the stop-motion they've done for this film is phenonmenal. It's orders of magnitude smoother than that in The Nightmare Before Christmas. There are times when it looks as smooth as CG and just as awesome. The voice actors and character designs have been perfectly matched and the production design itself is awesome! The storyline resolves around a timid young man whose wealthy but working-class family are arranging a marriage to the equally-timid daughter of a dirt-poor but upper-class family as an in to the nobby life. When out in the forest practicing his vows, he accidently puts the wedding ring on the finger of the corpse of a woman betrayed and lured to her death with a promise of elopement. Hence the title. The stoic, boring world of the living is a stark contrast to the colourful, whacky and a little creepy world of the dead, to where the corps bride (huzzah!) drags him. This is a wonderful tale that is far too short. I wanted much more, especially of the underworld scenes!

Four skeletal midgets out of five.