Monster House

2006, US, Directed by Gil Kenan
Animation, Running Time: 87 minutes
Review Source: Blu-ray, Region B, Sony; Video: 2.39:1 1080p 24fps (3D), Audio: DTS HD MA

In an American suburb the local kids are terrorized by a bitter old man whenever they step on his property or let their toys fall on to his lawn, causing a real stink on Halloween when kids like to go trick-or-treating (AKA making a complete nuisance). One boy in particular, DJ, is suspicious of what goes on in the old man’s spooky house, setting up a telescope in his bedroom and generally becoming obsessed. As his parents shoot off for holiday - er, sorry: vacation - and the old man himself is taken away by ambulance after a screaming fit leaves him with a heart attack, DJ enlists the help of his fat friend and the local babe (if you’re 13 or under of course) as they begin to realise that the house itself seems to have a mind of its own, apparently ‘eating’ anything that strays too close. The police understandably don’t believe a word of it, so the youngsters decide to take the matter into their own digits - they start formulating a plan to break in.

Presenting itself as a modern mix of The ‘burbs and The Goonies, Monster House is a fairly creative CGI movie showcasing advances in technology to quite astounding effect. The story itself is not ground-breaking but the characters’ behavioural patterns and facial expressions are a joy to watch. The script is executed at a slower pace than expected by the usual roundup of ’stars’ who do an adequate job with the material, though I wasn’t especially keen on Steve Buscemi’s vocal performance as the old man. There is a tragic element to the story (referring to the old man's wife)that's kind of in the background most of the time whilst being ultimately a conceptual driving factor for the entire escapade - I guess it does add some emotional weight but it was something that I felt a little uncomfortable with.  Rendering has reached such heights that the visuals could almost pass for stop-motion photography if the character movements themselves were not so smooth, which almost makes one wonder if the film could just have been shot as live-action utilising CG special effects (especially considering the extensive use of motion capture, which is not true animation). Made using an innovative 3D process for its original theatrical screenings, the technique has stimulated plenty of inventive virtual camera work that helps draw the viewer into the action. There seems to have been a little influence from Tim Burton here also, the score itself coming across as a Danny Elfman imitation on occasions. An acceptably delightful film; kind of an animated horror for children, with a few scenes that may frighten younger viewers.

Have previously seen this a couple of times on DVD, the direct digital transfer was not as sharp as expected but was otherwise very attractive, for standard definition…However, the 3D Blu-ray transfer is another matter. It’s an absolute stunner – there is no softness, only pixel-perfect sharpness to a point where even characters at a distance are neatly defined - the images created by the Sony team are often quite stunning. Colours and contrast are absolutely vibrant and the addition of the third dimension is a thrill from beginning (where a leaf calmly drifts down from a tree top to the ground as we follow it) to the climactic end sequence as DJ is tossed around on the end of a crane hook – be prepared for vertigo! The surround mix is equally absorbing making the Blu-ray an awesome demonstration piece for your system, whether you enjoy the film or not. Monster House is quite a fun ride, a factor multiplied by a hundred if you watch this in 3D.

The Nightmare Before Christmas

1993, US, Directed by Henry Selick
Colour, Running Time: 76 minutes
Review Source: Blu-ray, Region B, Disney; Video: 1080p 24fps 1.66:1 (2D)/1.78:1 (3D), Audio: Dolby TrueHD

Jack Skellington is an influential force in Halloween Town: the inhabitants look up to him to orchestrate the arrangements of each Halloween night, the primary purpose being to annually frighten the residents of the human world above and then spend the rest of the year preparing the following festival. But from Jack’s point of view the whole routine is becoming meaningless. As with most reasonably intelligent individuals he’s beginning to question the point of it all and yearns for something to break the mould. One night wandering through an unexplored part of the woods he stumbles across a doorway to Christmas Town. Exploring the place his enthusiasm is re-ignited as he decides to take over the Christmas celebrations of the human world and add his own personal spin on things. Authorising the kidnapping of ‘Sandy Claws’ to keep the big man out of the way, Jack utilises the help of Halloween Town’s infinitely macabre residents to prepare some new ways of celebrating. But being a little misguided Jack manages to make a bit of a mess of things when he angers humanity with his strange gifts (severed heads, snakes, etc.), putting his own life in peril in the process.

Derived from a story and accompanying sketches produced by Burton several years previous, Disney (the film was eventually released under their more ‘adult’ subsidiary, Touchstone Pictures) bravely permitted the project to be realised using stop motion animation, an incredibly time consuming and arduous technique that involves meticulously moving hand crafted models frame by frame, each shot usually accommodating either 1/12th or 1/24th of a second depending on the level of sophistication required. It’s worth remembering that CGI was in its relative infancy at the time and the first fully computer animated feature (Toy Story) was still a couple of years away so at this point traditional 2D (generally drawn) was the method of choice for the majority of full length animated films. To take on a feature project using the laborious stop motion process was close to madness but thankfully it’s something that appears to have paid off over the years, both critically and commercially - the movie’s subsequent success easily returned profits on the original investment of (approximately) eighteen million dollars.

The magnitude of this technical achievement, however, would have been nothing were it not for the abundance of incredibly imaginative ideas on display: every single shot oozes dark beauty both in the designs and character movements. Each hand-created model, from ornaments and buildings to trees and entire towns, is almost a work of art in its own right, the pinnacle being the characters themselves: accurately reflecting Burton’s original sketches these statuettes are brought to life so exquisitely they could fool you into thinking they’re autonomous entities in their own right. Jack Skellington himself makes a charismatic lead, someone with both entertaining personality and the deeper flaws that almost bring about his downfall as he desperately tries to understand and emulate a cultural tradition that he’s completely unfamiliar with. Though the results of his actions bring about despair upon humankind he’s not specifically an evil person, more so misguided and misunderstood (and from a different cultural background), hence there is a complexity there not as common as it should be in feature films, both live-action and animated. His stubborn attempts to bring meaning to his own life through recreating the Christmas spirit are counter-balanced by Sally, someone who can see clearly what’s going wrong but can’t quite get her point across. Of course she has her own problems in the form of scientist and captor, the gorgeously realised Dr Finkelstein. The efforts of the artists don’t stop at the primary characters though - even bit parts (especially the fantastic human children) are great to watch, ensuring there are things going on that you’ll be noticing afresh for viewings to come.

Danny Elfman must have loved this project, composing a near constant score as well as writing the lyrics throughout and providing the singing voice for Jack. Not being a fan of musicals I admittedly didn’t warm to the soundtrack until after perhaps two or three viewings; nowadays it’s impossible to imagine this film sounding any other way. Of course Burton himself didn’t actually direct this film - his name over the title reflects the fact that it’s based on his story, visuals and concepts. While he stood in as producer (along with, at that point, regular collaborator Denise Di Novi) Henry Selick was offered directorial duties, something that requires a certain degree of awareness outside of the norm due to the extremely slow nature of filming. It may be fair to say that Selick’s contribution was initially less acknowledged than it should have been, what with Burton’s creative shadow somewhat obscuring recognition of the lesser known man’s presence. What’s almost as bad is the fact that he then went on to direct James and the Giant Peach, a Roald Dahl story that Burton obviously had not created, and the producers added Dahl’s name above the title! The talented guy just doesn’t seem to be destined for fame somehow, though more recently the exquisite Coraline should have rectified that. Aside from the fact that Nightmare Before Christmas has very little competition as far as stop motion feature films are concerned, it’s nevertheless an amazing film both artistically and technically, one that revels in visual beauty from the opening seconds onwards and a moment of real creative integrity for Hollywood, something that‘s way too uncommon in a world where cinema has been hijacked by business people.

Seeing this film for years on DVD brought about a familiarity that really gave birth to unprecedented appreciation when I watched the Blu-ray Disc - the transfer (finally framed at its correct ratio) brings the film to life in a manner I simply didn’t expect. Model work is truly granted justice as every crevice now seems to be visible, while the colour is so vivid a direct comparison to the previously released DVDs makes them look like you've going back to VHS. Similarly there were sounds in the Dolby TrueHD track that I’m sure I’d never heard before, such is the clarity of the audio. The set can be picked up as standard Blu-ray, or a 2 Blu set that contains the 3D conversion on a separate disc (retaining all of the original content and 2D version on the first disc).  The 3D version is quite a joy to watch, though the results are not consistently superb - some shots have a little depth, whilst many look quite amazing with the delectable model work taking on further life of its own.  The inherent jerkiness of some of the stop motion animation doesn't lend itself well to the faster moving shots when rendered in three dimensions, but the overall result was pleasing, particularly as this conversion was undertaken a few years ago.  The ratio is also slightly cropped at 1.78:1 (no doubt the desire to use the entire frame of a widescreen set is desirable with 3D content). The standard disc is rammed with extras with Burton’s old films Vincent and Frankenweenie being retained (though not looking as good as the feature obviously). The latter has now also being turned into a stop motion feature and recent clips suggest this should be something to check out without fail. Nightmare Before Christmas is a sumptuously characterised, true gem of a film and justifiably blessed with a BD that should be owned by all film-lovers.

Cars

2006, US, Directed by John Lasseter
Animation, Running Time: 116 minutes
Review Source: Blu-ray, Region B, Disney; Video: 1080p 24fps 2.39:1, Audio: DD TrueHD

When I originally caught a preview trailer of Cars on one of Pixar’s earlier DVDs (long prior to the film’s production completion) I thought it was a bit of a dunce idea to be honest. There was little there that looked appealing beyond the attractively designed graphics, so it was not on the priority viewing list (until favourable reviews and competitive online pricing forced me to reconsider). The story istelf would appear to arc in a similar fashion to most of the Rocky movies: Lightning McQueen (a nicely cast Owen Wilson) is a ‘dashing’ race car who’s pretty sure of himself and the film opens with him taking part in an exciting race where he ends up effectively crossing the finish line at exactly the same moment in time as a couple of his competitors, resulting in an indisputable tie. A rematch is scheduled for a week later but on a routine cross country trip the sleeping McQueen rolls out of his trailer, ending up in the middle of the desert. Realising his predicament he speeds on to catch up with the trailer but attracts the attention of a small-town police car, this resulting in a chase that wrecks half of the town followed by McQueen’s consequential court appearance. The locals decide that the race car should repair all caused damage to the road as his sentence before he’s permitted to leave, so with time against him (his showdown race takes place in mere days) McQueen sets about putting right his accidental wrongs as quickly as possible (after escape attempts prove fruitless of course).

What happened to animated feature running times? They used to be so short, partly because of the vast work involved and partly because target audience (children) attention spans were notoriously limited. Over time I suppose companies such as Pixar have realised the appeal of their work spreads to adults as well as their offspring, plus their famed storytelling abilities are clearly able to carry films beyond a conventional 80 or 90 minutes. That’s the case with Cars: an endearing story fills out a near two hour running time seemingly without effort, and there is little in there that’s worth ditching. Of course it’s about super confident McQueen being brought down a peg or two along the way, in addition to him learning that ‘winning’ isn’t the only thing that matters (something that no doubt conflicts with his ‘genetic’ foundations, being a race car and all that). There are a few other morals built in there, typical of Pixar movies certainly, and you can take or leave that side of things when there is so much else in there to revel in: animated anthropomorphism is absolutely world class, and no opportunity here for the cheat of motion capture either; dialogue is consistently smart and often amusing; pacing is maintained with periodic bouts of frantic activity - the races themselves are surprisingly rousing for example. Oh, of course there’s a bit of a love story built in for good measure, although a reasonable standard of taste is upheld - we don’t actually get to see the cars mating to produce Tonka Toys at any point… Despite my initial reservations Cars surprised me by proving to be a first rate movie experience. One final point that must be expressed: the visuals are absolutely stunning throughout, and this presents a perfect opportunity for Blu-ray to show off what it can really do (particularly given an appropriately sophisticated system). Colours are vivid beyond anything you could have hoped for in home cinema, while detail is unquestionably extensive. Standing a couple of feet away from a 70+ inch screen you realise that this transfer could be blown up to the size of a wall and still look sumptuous - this has to be one of the most gorgeous films ever crafted (animated or not), and with Blu-ray you damn well know it! Supporting the pictures is a thundering soundtrack courtesy of Dolby’s lossless audio codec, the likes of car revs vibrating your very skeletal structure. Extras seem to be pretty comprehensive (including a couple of shorts, serving Pixar tradition), though I've as yet not trawled through them. With A/V quality this thrilling the price is already justified.

9

2009, US, Directed by Shane Acker
Animation, Running Time: 79 minutes
Review Source: Cinema screening; Image: 1.85:1 Digital

(Note, review based on original theatrical screening) Shane Acker first attracted the desirable attention that would break him into a small portion of Hollywood’s limelight with the ten minute film ‘9’ a few years ago, the third in a line of animated shorts that would finally find him a nomination at the Oscars. Expanded to feature-length 9 adopts the rough plot outline of its ancestral parent, utilises a very similar visual style, and brings an essentially arty CGI animation (that reminded me in places of work by the Quays and Svankmajer) to a wider audience. Set in a world that vaguely resembles our own, albeit with some deliberate historical juggling, mankind has been devastated by the evolution of machines initially designed to aid us in war, the machines themselves eventually turning on their creators - Matrix-style - to leave the planet a ruined, desolate place devoid of humanity, so it seems. Before you suspect further inspiration from Wall-E, you’ll be pleased/disappointed to hear that in our place, aside from the destructive machines, are tiny automatons that were created from bits of cloth and metal by a human scientist; creatures that are by comparison placid and harmless. However, the curiosity of one such creature, referred to like his siblings only by a number (‘9’ of course), reawakens a monolithic construction that threatens the existence of the entire community of tiny rubble dwellers, but therein may lie the answers that 9 seeks.

Leading a small team of animators in the mid-noughties Acker managed to create a visually imaginative short film that thrived on mystery and menace as much as its perceived ambient qualities, and to some extent those attributes have been effectively conveyed in this feature adaptation. Some sacrifices have had to be made in good will towards commercialisation: some of these necessary to keep the film afloat financially rather than having it flop in some art house swamp, while other sacrifices are more debatable. The most obvious alteration initially is one that changes the non-verbal nature of the characters of the short, to the more generally present speech in the feature. This can’t help but dispel some of the mystery, as background details are explained to the viewer and character motivations made more obvious, but for a film doing the rounds at mainstream cinemas this is probably a necessary development (though Wall-E admirably proved that successful long periods of non-dialogue in film-making could still be achieved). Much like in the short, the numerical little things that wander around in the conceptual dark are threatened by huge mechanical monsters as 9 himself tries to make some sense of the world and where they all came from. The primary action sequence of the short is exploited somewhat here to throw several such set pieces at the viewer, thereby maintaining interest in an audience that is all too easily bored nowadays. These are well executed scenes that inadvertently walk a tightrope when it comes to balancing the integrity of the original vision, especially as far as the presence of kung-fu fighting female number 7 is concerned (voiced by lovely Jennifer Connelly), a slightly contrived addition to the mythos that’s undoubtedly there to enhance appeal to certain youthful portions of any potential audience. Speaking of which, it is surprising to find that an animated feature nowadays has done so little to sell itself to children - the film is almost completely devoid of humour and the offbeat concept combined with dark imagery is not necessarily going to facilitate popularity with the young beasts that will one day be running our councils.

It’s to be appreciated that the imposing stylistic imagery of the short is closely adhered to in the feature, from the doll-like protagonists (looking almost identical to one another) to the apocalyptic backdrop that serves as the setting, and compositions are notable in the thoughtfulness behind them. Rather than taking on a similarly quirky score (and partly abandoning the relentless industrial sound design of the original) it’s notably unfortunate that the producers opted for a fairly generic orchestral outing, again eroding away slightly at the strangeness given birth by the source. The marginally clichéd conclusion is certainly preceded by plenty of unusual ideas, picturesque feasts for the eyes, a pace that’s not completely compliant with the norm, and the manifestation of technical talent in the telling of a story that has its fair share of fast moments alongside a handful that are just a tiny bit touching.

While 9 is not quite all it could have been (that would have resulted in a non-cinematic voyage for the outing almost surely) it has to be said that the film does keep one’s attention fixed, the animation itself is throughout very attractive, both in design and motion, and it’s highly commendable that a project like this can be whisked from the underground into mainstream by Hollywood’s midfield players. There’s plenty to enjoy and saviour here, though the masterpiece that the short film (as well as the trailer that sold this movie to me in the first place) perhaps hinted at is regrettably absent.

*Update* I recently picked up 9 on Blu-ray - the digibook version to be specific, although I suspect the standard edition is exactly the same disc from Universal.  The digibook is very attractive and worth a couple of extra pounds in my opinion.  The Blu-ray image, full HD of course, is not super sharp but particularly nice on a LED display whereby its full dynamic range can be appreciated - the film has a very painterly look that translates well to Blu.  There's a chance that the film was rendered in HD or possibly 2K, so this may be the best it will ever look.  Audio is very good and a few standard Hollywood-esque extras make for decent one-time viewing.  The best extra is the inclusion of the original short, begging for comparison to the main feature.