Just forget the words and sing along

Friday, September 09, 2005

Wow. I'm getting a little distraught. My best friend's been so quiet lately.

Of course, he lives in Vancouver, so by "quiet lately," I mean, "Hmm.... He hasn't e-mailed me in 2 days. This is odd."

He's always had an affination for New Orleans, so I've got this fantasy that he's been too busy to reply because he hopped on a plane and he's currently down there helping in relief efforts. He's a good guy, too, so there is a very distinct possibility that yes, that is the case.

But, I'm certain that the reality of the situation is that the real world of a 9 to 5 job is wearing him down and he's got far more important things to do than reply to my latest 600-word essay speculating on who the villains are in Spider-Man 3.

I'll admit, part of the reason why I'm freaking out a bit is because ALL my e-mail has stopped. I get nothing...not even spam! Ever since I took my laptop into the shop back on Wednesday, my inbox has been empty. All I need is one ad for penis enlargment pills and I'd be happy.

I shouldn't have gone off like that. Now, my best friend is going to read this and be guilted into saying "Hi!" And that's not good. Friendships built on guilt are unhealthy.


So, I read this really cool article in the Edmonton Journal yesterday. It was all about stop-motion animation. As the article pointed out, it's the rarest, most labour intensive form of animation, yet we've got 2 stop-motion animated films coming out in the next month.

So, we've got Tim Burton's Corpse Bride coming out on the 23rd, and Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit on October 7. I'm looking forward to them both. I loved Nightmare Before Christmas, so it's great to see another film in that vein with Corpse Bride. And, the long-awaited second feature film from Aardman Studios, those who made Chicken Run. In case you haven't hear about any of these....

Tim Burton's Corpse Bride - Based on an old Russion folk tale, this one follows the adventures of young Victor, whose betrothed to be married to Victoria. But, as he practices his vows in the dark, spooky forest, Victor accidentally marries a corpse and winds up in the land of the dead. Now, he's torn between two brides: one living, and one dead. Johnny Depp does the voice of Victor and Helena Bonham Carter is the Corpse Bride. It's a musical, with some more twisted Danny Elfman songs. Despite his connection with Nightmare Before Christmas, this is the first time that Tim Burton has actually directed an animated film since his days as a struggling animator at Disney.

Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit - Aardman's most famous creations get their own feature-length film. This time around, Wallace & Gromit are running a humane pest control agency. That is, they capture pests and release them into the wild. And, with the big vegetable contest coming up, they're working their tales off capturing rabbits in everyone's gardens. But then, it's noticed that there's a much bigger menace stalking the gardens.... Nick Sallas is back as the voice of Wallace, Ralph Fiennes voices the villanous Lord Victor Quartermaine, and Helena Bonham Carter voices Lady Tottington, the woman who catches Wallace's eye. Nick Park, director of all 3 Wallace & Gromit shorts and Chicken Run is directing.

As the article said, everyone really doubts that 2 stop-motion animated films coming out this close together will lead to a massive stop-motion resurgance. As one animator said, "At the very least, we've resurrected it as a folk art." Nope, CGI is still pushing everything out. Even Aardman Studios, who put stop-motion animation on the map, is releasing their first CGI film next year.

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