Thursday, July 16, 2009

Despicable Me

Looks like our friends over at Universal's animation arm ("Illumination Entertainment") have put out their first trailer for Despicable Me. MacGuf Ligne is doing the actual work on this thing and I must say, it looks decent.

The animation, modeling, texturing, and lighting are pretty well done. No uber cloth simulations or fancy schmancy technical achievements (in the trailer that is), but it did do the job. Not everyone can spend those Pixar $$.

What is most important, is that the trailer made me want to see the movie. Looks to be a good time. Although, come to think of it, I may of said that for Cloudy w/ a Chance of Meatballs when their first trailer released. Now... I have no interest in that film.

I haven't heard for sure, my budget guess is in the (USD) $70 million area.

Thursday, July 02, 2009

Ollie the Otter?

Back from the dead, Ollie the Otter shows up at Cannes. Okay, maybe not the whole film, but a snippet to try and lure $$.

If you recall, this is the film and company (CritterPix) that I bashed numerous times on this blog in the past. I've got to commend them for getting a promo done and getting it to Cannes (not the festival mind you!). However, it still looks like ass. And unfortunately, the story still sounds about as good as it looks.

I still have a negative outlook for the film and the company. But hell, I've been wrong before and who knows what may happen. There is a place in this world for crappy films. And those crappy films sometimes make a lot of money.

Thanks to the Anonymous guy who pointed this out in a previous comment section.

Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs

I was really looking forward to see SPA pump out another nice animated film in Cloudy w/ A Chance for Meatballs.

After seeing the second trailer that was recently released, I'm starting to think that won't happen. What an ugly film this has turned into. The art direction looks horrible. Everything looks muddy. Poor lighting choices. The animation looks okay, but seems to have taken a step down from their previous two films. Perhaps the good stuff isn't in the trailer and being saved for the movie. On top of all of that, the character models are uninteresting and downright boring.

Whatever the case, I'm no longer looking forward to this film. Sad. I'm starting to get the sinking feeling that SPA is going the way of the dodo bird.