Once again I had disappeared and left this blog alone. Sorry, but I rushed off on vacation with my family. We started in New York and then traveled world-right to Great Britain, Spain, France, Moscow, and finally to Australia.
Neither my wife nor myself have ever done anything like this. We enjoyed it immensely. It was nice to get away and see different parts of the world.
It doesn't appear that a lot has happened while I was away. I mean, nothing huge. More piss ass films were released and did poorly at the box office, more stupid comments from reporters that don't understand the business or refuse to actually do any research.
On the features front, Flushed Away is right around the corner and looks to be a decent film. In a future blog entry, maybe I'll talk about what a train wreck that production was. Obviously everyone knows by now the parting of Aardman and DreamWorks. Maybe this will shed some light on the situation.
I got a chance to see Open Season when I returned from vacation. Just as I had hoped, the visuals were incredible and the animation was wonderful. I tip my hat to SPA and the love they put into this picture. It shows. Sure the story seemed to borrow from here and there, but it was still enjoyable and the eye candy was worth every penny. Too bad it didn't do better in the box office. Sony says it was inline with what they had expected. Give me a break. You expected more. A $90 million film with a $23 Million opening = not good.
I'm all for plenty of animation jobs. But animated film after animated film is diluting the market. Either come up with a cheaper way to make films or expect to make less money. On the good side, this will thin out those trying to get rich quick.
Speaking of thinning out. DNA, the producers of Ant Bull and Jimmy Neutron is off the map. What was once a thriving studio is now a shell. I can't say that I thought Ant Bully or JN was a great movie, but I did have hope that these guys would survive. Maybe someday they will come back. But, I won't count on it.
