Stop Frame

It was my birthday this past week, and Dreamworks Animation has just delivered this born and bred animation fan a brilliant present called How to Train Your Dragon . A simple story told simply well, it is a joy to behold and I’m straining to say anything vaguely ungood about it. All right, the supporting cast is rather weak. You’ve met them all before and seen all their antics before (though the one who evaluates dragons in terms of their D&D scores is hilarious). Yes, and so what? Complaining about them is as useful as complaining about the director again using a blue sky during daytime. These are people in the background, given (maybe) a word or two to let you get to know them. So drag out a stock character, let him/her/it scream/speak/bark and voila, the audience understands them immediately. But enough negativity, on with the oh so very good…. How to Train Your Dragon tells the story of Hiccup, an un-Viking-like boy growing up on an island of rough and tough Vikings. It...

Excuse me while I dust things off. Long time no write. Been looking for Brigadoon. So far no luck, but I remain hopeful. I missed reviewing Sherlock Holmes and Daybreakers . I’ll write more about them when the DVD’s are released, but suffice to say for now that I’ll be buying both. I still haven’t seen that box office behemoth, Avatar . My sister gave it a glowing testimonial: Absolutely gorgeous, beautifully presenting stupid characters and an even stupider plot. Seems consistent with most every review and/or comment I’ve heard or read. Except for those few who are so over-the-top in love with it they remind me of WALL-E fanboys. When I see it on DVD I’ll no doubt be told that it’ll suck because “you must experience it!” Well, sorry, but isn’t that a left-handed way of saying the story sucks? Can’t argue with $2+ billion at the box office, though. I could probably write about Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland , but it’s not worth caring about. That it’s raked in so much at t...