Wednesday 2 March 2016

… Of the Week: 2nd – 9th March 2016

Film of the Week:

The Good Dinosaur


When it comes to Pixar, I have been known to be a little biased as I tend to praise them up more than look at some of the faults. They do have a long track record of making stunning films with epic and sad stories which will make any one person cry, for example, Inside Out, but they have made some that doesn’t quite live up to the rest as well, being Cars 1 and 2. When I heard about their latest film, the Good Dinosaur, I did what I usually do when it comes to a new film of theirs, and that is staying away from any spoilers as much as possible before seeing the film, and whilst I almost always do so, I was able to get avoid anyone telling me happens before I saw it happen. So, to make sure that I don’t slowly inch my way into the biased territory, I figured I would watch the film once to get the feel of it first, then watch it again but analyse it more, and that is what I did. On the second time round, I did notice a few things.

But before I do give you a rundown of the film, I need to, firstly, tell you what it is about. The story is set in an alternate timeline based upon the question: What if the asteroid that would have caused the extinction of the dinosaurs 65 million years ago missed Earth entirely? Afterwards, two Apatosaurus, Henry (Jeffrey Wright) and Ida (Frances McDormand), give birth to three children: Libby (Maleah Padilla), Buck (Marcus Scribner), and the smallest of the three, Arlo (Raymond Ochoa). They are a family of farmers and they each do their part in making sure the farm is kept operational. If they do a good job, they each earn the privilege of adding their mark to the corn silo.

Arlo doesn’t adjust as quickly as the other two and is scared of most things around him. One night, when his dad takes him out to help conquer his fears, a storm arrives and along with it a flash flood. When trying to get to safety, the dad is swept away.

The family struggles to cope without the extra pair of hands. His mother is exhausted trying to do so many things at once, and when Arlo tries to help her, he is caught by surprise by a caveboy who frequently breaks into their silo to steal some food. When chasing him away, he accidentally falls into the river that runs alongside, and is also swept away. The rest of the story focuses on Arlo’s adventure of getting back home. Along the way, he meets some friendly and some not so friendly dinosaurs, and an unlikely friendship surfaces between him and the caveboy.

The story itself is full of emotion and is very heart-warming throughout. The background animation is tremendous. Every scene is jaw-dropping. It was blown away by how realistic each part of the background looked, how smooth the water animation was and how vibrant all the colours were. Seeing this film proves how far they have come over the years. From their humble beginnings with Pixar Shorts to their still mesmerising Toy Story 1, this film shows that they are still aiming to be their best and nothing less.

But.

Whilst the background was incredible, the characters, especially the Apatosaurus didn’t look as vibrant or as colourful. In fact, I will have to go so far as to say that compared to the background, the characters looked bland. Their movement was superb as always, but they did look a little out of place. You could argue by saying that if the characters popped as much as the background, there would be so much going on, it would be difficult to keep track of things, and if that is the real reason, then I will be happy with that, but in the meantime, I’m sorry to say that it wasn’t the best they’ve done, especially since they had recently brought out the film Inside Out, where all the Emotions were incredibly colourful.

So that is all that I’ve got to say about the film as a whole, really, but there are a couple of other points that I would like to address before I move on. This film was in development for a couple of years, and in that time, many projects started and finished development. Pixar is a big company, with a lot of animators, but even so there is only a finite amount of things any one company can do before they start getting bogged down, and I feel that this film suffered from that. The background was spectacular, but as for the rest of it, I feel simply got caught up in every other project that they were doing at the time. I’m not saying that every film from now on will be of the same quality, but it is something that I feel Pixar should consider discussing before they start taking on a lot of projects at once. The last thing we want is the sequel to the Incredibles to not be as great as we all don’t want to admit we’re really excited for.

The second and final point that I would like to bring up is a question. It has been neither confirmed nor denied by Pixar that it is what they were intending, but the Pixar Theory is a popular fan-made theory that supposedly explains how every film in the Pixar’s catalogue is connected somehow in one huge timeline. And upon reading it, it does hold up and I have to admit that it is a strong theory that even the Pixar team can’t deny is strong. However, my question is: How does this film tie into that theory? Being an alternate timeline, it may be creating its own story. If this film has been added to the Pixar Theory, I will be interested in reading how the many fans have implemented it somehow.

For those that are intrigued by the Pixar Theory, here is a link taking you to a site that explains it the best. You will be in for a shock.

Below is the link to the trailer of the film:



TV Episode of the Week

The People Vs OJ Simpson: American Crime Story – Episode 1

By now everyone has gotten to a conclusion about the O.J. Simpsons case. Some are certain he did kill his ex-wife, some are certain he didn’t, and others are remaining on the fence. This original series by the BBC isn’t designed to make you change your mind, but rather tell the story from the facts.

Starring Cuba Gooding Jr as actor and football player O.J. Simpsons, John Travolta as Robert Shapiro and David Schwimmer as Robert Kardashian, the first episode doesn’t shy away from getting straight into the nitty and gritty side of the story. Detailing every step of the way, this series can only show you what is going on based on the evidence collected from various sources.

I do not know much about the O.J. Simpson case as much as I probably need to in order to write an article about it, but I don’t necessarily have to as this – even though this is only the first episode – sets things up to make you decide for yourself whether he committed the crime or not. I am intrigued to know where this goes from here and how the story develops. For someone who doesn’t know much about the case apart from the basics, this is the best way for me to get to know what happened during those times in the courtroom, at home, and even what happened between him and his friends and family. It does have a lot to cover over the series, but I’m sure it will do just fine without rushing it.


Game of the Week

The Sims 2


I am confident is saying that there isn’t a single person on the planet who hasn’t heard of the Sims. They have been the staple of PC gaming since the moment the first game was released. The recognition it has gained over the years may have been the cause for its gradual decrease in popularity as more and more people got bored of seeing everywhere, but that doesn’t stop it from increasing once more. Now that the Sims Series is on its fourth game, it’s still going as strong as necessary to keep it flying off the shelves. I personally haven’t played any of the Sims games in a long while. The last one being the Sims 3: Back to the Future expansion pack.

I used to play the Sims 2 for hours and hours on end, day after day. It took me half that time just to create the family, and probably even longer than that to pick out their personality traits, their looks, clothes, names. It’s safe to say that the majority of my time playing this incredible game was spent creating the people, the house and that was it. And when you do eventually start to play the game, it sucked you in and never let go.

This game didn’t differ that much from its predecessor, and the ones that followed didn’t differ that much either, but there was always just enough difference added to make it look and feel like a totally different game overall and that’s why we brought it and the ones that followed. You, the player, are able to do pretty much whatever you want. You can instruct the family to get a job or lounge about doing nothing all day, baking cakes and watching TV, then sleeping and chatting with friends. You had to keep on top of your bills otherwise you may get penalised for it, plus you needed to make sure that you didn’t leave any dirty plates about the house, because they will start to smell and people don’t like when a house is smelly. And if you feel that you don’t much fancy going to work, but you still want the best TV, there are a few cheats that you can enter to get you as much money as your heart desires.

However you choose to play the game, you can be sure that you will have fun.

Video of the Week

2016 FRIENDS REUNION – Tribute to Director James Burrows


Director James Burrows has been a part of so many great TV shows, including Friends, and the Big Bang Theory, among others. This video shows the entire cast of Friends, unfortunately with no Matthew Perry, as they discuss their favourite moments with the Director. There has been a Friends reunion this large since the show ended back in 2004, so it was a thrill to see their wonderful personalities bounce off one another once more during this interview.

Thanks for reading
Antony Hudson
(TonyHadNouns)

My book, Sector 22: Zoey, is now available on Amazon, eBay, and SkyCat Publications' website:

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