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Author Topic: Wallace & Gromit: Curse of the Were-Rabbit Peter Berrett Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 602 From: Victoria, Australia Registered: Nov 2000 posted 09-11-2005 12:07 AM                        Attendance: 12.00 Matinee session at Metro Cinemas, Boronia Although being unfamiliar with W&G previously the style of humour is familiar to me from the creator's last film 'Chicken Run'. I enjoyed this film and the comedy operates at a number of levels. For those that can spot them, them are homages to King Kong, Snoopy, Thunderbirds and others, and the humour satirises many aspects of modern and 20th Century British culture. This was also my daughter's first outing to a hard top moviee theatre (although she has been to the drive-in many times before). She enjoyed the film and the cinema experience. The clean cinema and good presentation no doubt assisted. The film was underpinned by a good storyline and some very clever visuals. I am still trying to work out whether the characters were all filmed using plasticene figures or whether there was some cgi worked in there as well. However it is done there is some impressive animation in there. The only downside of the visit was the short film preceding W&G and featuring the penguins from Madagascar. Although the film was very well done and amusing it struck me as being somewhat violent for young children. W&G verdict: 8/10 cheers Peter  |  IP: Logged Matt Fields Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 545 From: Ohio, United States Registered: Jun 2005 posted 10-07-2005 01:10 PM                     I really loved the W&G shorts, especially "A Close Shave" and "The Wrong Trousers", but just liked "Curse of the Were- Rabbit". Had some good jokes but lacked the jaw dropping action sequence climax. 3.5 out of 5 for me.  |  IP: Logged Brad Miller Administrator Posts: 17775 From: Plano, TX (36.2 miles NW of Rockwall) Registered: May 99 posted 10-07-2005 03:53 PM                     Wallace and Gromit 4 out of 5 stars. Very cute and smart script. Madagascar penguins short 1 out of 5 stars. I was bored. This is stupid.  |  IP: Logged David Yauch Expert Film Handler Posts: 206 From: Mesa, AZ, USA Registered: Oct 2004 posted 10-07-2005 05:26 PM                     I would give W&G 3.5 out of 5. It was humorous but I found myself nodding off at times as it seemed to repeat itself. Also it was a tad predictable. Not bad entertainment though. Penguin short was stupid, 'nuff said.  |  IP: Logged Erica Peterson Film Handler Posts: 26 From: Toronto, ON, Canada Registered: Jul 2003 posted 10-09-2005 10:42 PM                        quote: Peter Berrett I am still trying to work out whether the characters were all filmed using plasticene figures or whether there was some cgi worked in there as well. BBC article says that CGI was only used for fog, fire, water, and floating bunnies.  |  IP: Logged Sam Graham AKA: "The Evil Sam Graham". Wackiness ensues. Posts: 1431 From: Waukee, IA Registered: Dec 2004 posted 10-10-2005 10:03 PM                        CINEMA: AMC Oak View 24, Omaha, NE AUDITORIUM: 14 PRESENTATION: AMC HITS setup with Mystery Meat digital PRESENTATION PROBLEMS: None RATING: Two and one half stars (out of four) WARNING: Spoilers...defense...fifteen yard penalty...automatic first down I've never thought HITS sounded that bad. The sound here was clean with a good balance of bass. It's cleaner sounding than any auditorium at the post-HITS era AMC Flat Iron Crossing 14 I've been in. The picture was in focus and rock solid. Every time I come here, everything seems to work. But these seats just suck. I feel like Lily Tomlin in her big rocking chair in these things. Except these don't rock. Or recline. First off (after the dozen or so trailers for movies that all appear to absolutely suck) we get a short called "The Madagascar Penguins in A Christmas Caper". The penguins...Skipper, Kowalski, Rico, and Private, are setting up their Christmas party when Private notes that the zoo's polar bear is all alone and very sad looking. Private wants to get him a present. Skipper fails to suggest Private offer HIMSELF up as a present and let the bear eat him. Thus, a wacky adventure ensues that lasts slightly longer than I was hoping Wallace and Gromit would last. Everything I've heard about Madagascar can be summed up with "Bad movie...great penguins." THESE characters were the good part of Madagascar? That must have been one serious stinkbomb. Wallace and his regrettably faithful and extremely intelligent dog Gromit are humane disposers of rabbits. This is a lucrative business in a town obsessed with vegetables. Great big vegetables. Size matters in this burg. They don't really dispose of the rabbits, of course. Their "trade secret" is that they have a basement full of the things. A funny alternative would have been if they also ran a restaurant that was famous for its stew, and nobody locally ever made the connection. A freak accident happens during an experiment, which results in the creation of the Were-Rabbit, who terroizes produce and threatens the forthcoming annual town festival...contest...I can't remember. Wallace and his dog are charged with finding a solution more humane than shooting the thing by the token love interest. Fun and mayhem ensues. It's a fun little ride, but I didn't find it to be anything remarkable. I, as a child, had a pet rabbit. My father built it a huge cage behind the garage. He dug a small trench in the cage and put a board over it to give it some shelter. The rabbit took over from there and did some serious expansion, putting together a network of tunnels that went under the cage, through our garden, our neighbor's garden, and at least one other neighbor's garden beyond that one. Think about that at the end of this movie and see how plausible you think this "solution" is.  |  IP: Logged Mark Gulbrandsen Resident Trollmaster Posts: 16657 From: Music City Registered: Jun 99 posted 10-10-2005 11:39 PM                     quote: Sam Graham It's a fun little ride, but I didn't find it to be anything remarkable. Ok, anyone that doesn't like this film is a frump!! Actually there are some things in it that were quite remarkable if you stop and thnk about it. The scenes where there are 20 to 30 town folk all visible at once and all doing something different... those short shots had to take weeks to complete, then there are the shadows but those had to be done digitally... many other things that all add up to 5 years of well planned but still very difficcult work... I give it 3 and a half stars... the first fun movie we've had all year! Mark  |  IP: Logged Sam Graham AKA: "The Evil Sam Graham". Wackiness ensues. Posts: 1431 From: Waukee, IA Registered: Dec 2004 posted 10-11-2005 07:18 PM                        Okay, I'll give you that...If you consider the sheer technical feat of the MAKING of this movie, yes, that's remarkable. FRUMP FRUMP FRUMP FRUMP  |  IP: Logged Andy Summers Master Film Handler Posts: 397 From: Bournemouth Dorset United kingdom Registered: Jun 2005 posted 10-11-2005 10:27 PM                 The British are coming, and looks like a third Oscar for “Nick Park” watch this space for nominations due out February 2006, I seen “Chicken Run” “The Wrong Trousers” “Creature Comforts” and the television advertisements in the past damn funny cute too.  |  IP: Logged Brian Michael Weidemann Expert cat molester Posts: 944 From: Costa Mesa, CA United States Registered: Feb 2004 posted 10-12-2005 12:33 AM                        Two words: Floating Bunnies! I loved this movie in exactly the same way I loved the three W&G short films. It's not so much formulaic, but it has the same tone and pacing and British sensibility that's just fun to watch. I was worried that it might not hold up at feature length, but they did it right. It had some good laughs, some predictable plot points, a lot more innuendo than I expected, and more floating bunnies than you can shake a stick at! Very cute. Not really a spoiler, per se, but ... a favorite moment of mine was all the bunnies waving to the black bunny on the guy's head, and the poor bunny just waving back. They knew the floating bunnies would be a hit, otherwise they wouldn't have flooded the end credits with them. I imagine the floating bunnies screensaver will be out in no time flat! I want it!  |  IP: Logged Adam Wilbert Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 590 From: Bellingham, WA, USA Registered: Mar 2002 posted 10-13-2005 02:47 PM                        how in the world do they do stop motion animation with floating characters. I don't get it. My brother and I went to see this, and we were the only two in the theatre without a toddler. That dissapointed me, as i was hoping this would reach a larger audience (maybe it is elsewhere... at #1, it must be). The CGI effects were well done. I swear that they grabbed a couple of shots from their other films. Maybe they just resembled the angle (the basement doors opening up to the shot of the moon, for example). Anyway, I out-laughed every kid in the theatre. 4.5 / 5  |  IP: Logged Michael Schaffer "Where is the Boardwalk Hotel?" Posts: 4143 From: Boston, MA Registered: Apr 2002 posted 10-13-2005 04:27 PM                        quote: Adam Wilbert how in the world do they do stop motion animation with floating characters. I don't get it. quote: Adam Wilbert The CGI effects were well done I liked it a lot, but not as much as the earlier movies which were shorter and faster. I think stretching the movie to full feature length may be overstretching them a little bit. But then, the earlier movies are so good, how can you even come up with something to top them? The "dog fight" scene at the end was good, but nowhere near as good as the chase scene in "The Wrong Trousers" in which they chase the evil penguin on the model train while laying out the tracks in front of them. That is still one of the most breathtaking things I have ever seen in any movie.  |  IP: Logged Brian Michael Weidemann Expert cat molester Posts: 944 From: Costa Mesa, CA United States Registered: Feb 2004 posted 10-13-2005 08:20 PM                        Taking the movie on its own merit, it was outstanding. But I fully agree ... that model train sequence just kicks so much ass, you really couldn't do anything better, and Wrong Trousers totally deserved the award for that alone, if nothing else.  |  IP: Logged Dave Williams Wet nipple scene Posts: 1836 From: Salt Lake City, UT, USA Registered: Jan 2000 posted 10-15-2005 01:05 AM                        I loved the film, but my wife found where the film was lacking. In the earlier films, we went through the invention phase with wallace before the implementation phase. In this feature lenghth picture, there was no "invention" phase at all. I believe that if we had seen wallace "invent" the solution to the rabbit problem before he put it into use, or had his "humane rabbit elimination" scheme put into place, it would have taken the place of that enourmously and painfully sleepy ending sequence at the festival. Other than that.. great show... Ciao  |  IP: Logged David Stambaugh Film God Posts: 4021 From: Eugene, Oregon Registered: Jan 2002 posted 10-16-2005 08:01 PM                        Today, 1:30PM, Cinemark 17 in Springfield, House #8, DTS. Very OK presentation although the image seemed slightly dim and I like the sound a little louder. Was about 3/4 full. Disclaimer: This was my introduction to Wallace & Gromit. Never seen them before in anything else. I had to leave before it ended because I was nodding off. I was becoming seriously drowsy. I am not making that up. Clearly, I am a very bad person. I should be shot. Now, I appreciate the loving attention to detail that went into making this. But 45 minutes of it would have been pushing the envelope for me. Ninety minutes of sitting there thinking "Oh isn't that cute!" is just more than I could stand. I agree with Evil Sam Graham. Kids in the audience (and there were a LOT of them) seemed to enjoy it. A couple of adults were laughing uproariously at almost everything. I'm happy for them and I'm glad this is selling tickets. I did enjoy the penguin thing.  |  IP: Logged

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