Puss In Boots

[Bill1978]

I thought it was non-USA countries that were producing the high art flicks while USA just filled cinemas with mindless action pieces low brow comedies and useless sequels/reboots.

Perhaps the 'foreign' countries just like to spend 90 minutes watching animals do dumb things and then move on to locally produce cinema that makes them think.

Plus remember it is easier to dumb animation into another language than a live action pic. SO maybe it feels more organically home grown.

[Ben]

No, actually, the "good" has pretty much been a recent invention for them, only in the last couple years or so.

Agreed! The likes of Prince Of Egypt, Antz, Spirit and even the first couple of Shreks were all just total crap!

[Randall]

Pretty sure Ben's being sarcastic. At least I hope so.

[Ben]

Me too!

[ShyViolet]

I'm really excited about their future slate! The Croods sounds awesome, can't wait!
Also Peabody and Sherman, it's so cool Rob Minkoff is the director!

Unless there's been any improvement, or change in co-directors, early Croods word from the TAG Blog was "THIS is what happens when you let Chris Sanders direct solo, without Dean DeBlois."

He's directing it with Kirk Demicco.

[Daniel]

Sequel has a date and name: Puss in Boots: The Last Wish.

[Dacey]

I’m game. Sounds like they have a pretty good idea for this one. Will be interesting to find out if they make it another prequel, or bring Shrek along for the ride (or at least a cameo).

[Ben]

I just want him to swish his blade Zorro style again to create the three-slash P!

I'd still love for them to make the planned third Zorro film, actually, where Banderas was going to train their son to take over (in fact, the last shot of Legend Of Zorro *is* actually the son pulling on the cape, for an alternative ending that they then decided to make the third film the plot for, before middling box-office put it on hold; a shame, since in many ways the second is even more of a ride than the first)!

[Dacey]

The Legend of Zorro was so, so fun! Inexplicable for me how the reviews made it out to be one of the worst sequels ever, when it was an energetic, sexy, old school adventure movie with some terrific action and satisfyingly absurd villain deaths (then again, the film probably shouldn't have gotten a PG...).

[Ben]

Yay! Another fan!

I was lucky to go to a private screening of Legend at Pinewood with the cinematographer, and it remains one of my favoriite cinemagoing experiences ever. Pin-sharp Grade A showprint, amazing SDDS sound, and a fantaboulously entertaining movie where you could feel the heat burning off the screen! It was great!

So sad Sony only did a 4K of the first film, though maybe it’s time for me to belatedly get the Blu, since I only had both on DVD, although the second was reference for the time. Just a great fun pic!

[Randall]

Anyone seen the new trailer? Did the animation seem, um, a little cheap? I wasn't a fan of the first Puss in Boots (maybe I need to give it another try), and the trailer for the new film did not encourage me to get excited for a sequel.

[Farerb]

I haven't seen the trailer but I'm not surprised that it doesn't look good. I was never a fan of DreamWorks, I didn't even go to The Bad Guys.

[Daniel]

Said trailer:



Great montage! But yes, it looks different. Like painterly textures and low frame rate.

[EricJ]

And looking suspiciously like the "new" Dreamworks that does stylized cable-toon series for Netflix Hulu.
I'm not going to say I "miss" Jeffrey Katzenberg, but...no, on second thought, I'm definitely not going to.

[Ben]

It’s not that it’s "cheap" looking but more that the simulated stuff, like the milk, isn’t particularly nicely lit. The rendering and textures are fine, and I can’t see any low frame rate, other than on the green giant/ogre, and I’m taking that to be some kind of injoke or homage to Ray Harryhausen’s stop-motion creatures — also, I reckon that whole sequence may be one of Puss' overelaborate stories, so while it doesn’t work in a trailer, it may be a stylised opening sequence and b3 totally fitting in the movie, which is what I’m guessing this is (all those scenes are clearly from the same sequence). And, besides, Banderas is always big fun as Zorro or any character that spoofs that role. I wasn’t the hugest fan of the first Boots either, for its over complicated and surprisingly somber storytelling, but this looks more like the Puss of old. I’m in for a watch.