Oscars Tonight

I don't think I have the patience to sit through another Oscar ceremony. Maybe I'll change my mind at the last second, but something tells me that cleaning my toe nails is a better alternative.

My feelings about the best animated film category hasn't changed. Wall-E will probably win. But in my eyes, KFP deserves it.

The first 20 or so minutes of Wall-E was very enjoyable. I loved it. But after that, the movie started to nose dive. Not long thereafter, the thing crashed. I tried watching it 3 times, in an attempt to see what I missed. Same reaction each time.

Here's hoping that "Up" is a better film.

UPDATE: Two predictions came true tonight. 1- Wall-E won. And 2- I didn't watch one second of the Oscars. Instead, I spent the time on more important things. Like laundry. I was running out of underwear and my toe nails were not in need of maintenance.

Coraline Gets $17 Million

On its opening weekend, Coraline pulls in just under $17 million. I guess that isn't too terribly bad for a film showing on 2,300 screens. However, if I were to make a $70 million animated film and only made that box office, I'd be disappointed.

I'm not sure what this means for Laika's future.

Social Website Geeks Unite!

I've decided to try something new. If you'd like to geek out, follow "Staloren" on twitter to see what moronic clever things I have to say about the animation industry.

Orphanage Closes Doors

San Francisco based "The Orphanage" has called it quits. These guys have been creating effects for films, television, and commercials for quite a while.

I'm not sure we can blame it entirely on the economy or what. My guess is that it has a lot to do with studios underbidding everyone else in order to get work. It is amazing how little money the big effects companies bring in these days. One or two slip ups can really screw you over.

You can bet that several more studios are going to go out of business before the world climbs out of this financial shit hole.

Coraline Opens Today

Laika's first entry into animated features has opened. I'm normally pretty snarky (I love that word) when it comes to the company, but I'm hopeful that the film will do well.

Unfortunately, my gut instinct is telling me that Coraline will stink it up and do very poorly this weekend. It just doesn't have the wide range appeal or push behind it to be considered a success. Especially since the film cost north of $70 million.

This will not bode well for future features out of this Portland studio