Monster House

Post by **renderman** » July 24th, 2006, 8:24 am

I saw it opening night at 9:25pm (which is important because I was already tired).

I.

Loved.

This.

Movie.

It made me want to go back in at 11:30 pm and watch it again.
Hey, I loved "Cars" too, but I didn't want to go right back in and watch it
all over again. I saw it in "Digital 3D", which is the first time I have been
able to see this new process by RealD, Inc.

It floored me. No chromatic seperation when the glasses were on,
like the old red/blue process did. No headache. No blurring.

Crystal clear. Totally added to the experience, without being gimmicky
at all.

But it was the movie, the story, the characters, the design, the lighting,
the MOOD that this film created that I totally got into.

I will be seeing it again (and again) in the weeks to come.

I was very leery of the mocap process, after the creepiness of the
"Polar Express" results. Not this time. It worked, it fit, and it probably
made the other visuals more impressive, since a lot of the animator
firepower could be directed at all the other stuff that you see.

THere are some shots in here that I would not be surprised if you told
me they took 6 months to accomplish. They are that incredible.

Please give this movie a chance. I think you will be rewarded and
astounded.

-Renderman

Post by **James** » July 24th, 2006, 10:52 pm

I hate to be the first, but here goes. It wasn't that good. It wasn't as bad as I was afraid it could be. But still not great.

Big downsides:
- some of the character designs were difficult to even look at
- some facial expressions looked very unnatural
- some spots animation seemed choppy, like a ball bouncing that fell and rose slower than you would expect.
- very contrived plot developments
- dialogue was a bit forced - like when your dad is trying to act cool in front of your friends - almost embarrassing to listen to
- some questionable content for a kids movie

Upside:
- amazing animation on the house. The previews do not do it justice. The last 15 minutes of animation on the house is really worth seeing on the big screen.

One last thing: this movie is scary. If your kids don't like that kind of thing don't take them.

Post by **eddievalient** » July 25th, 2006, 10:13 am

Okay, here's where I feel the need to chime in. I haven't seen the film yet (won't be able to until next week), but come on James. Just because a movie has kids in it doesn't necessarily make it a kids movie. And you of all people should know that not all animated films are intended for a child audience ( i.e. Corpse Bride). The vibe I got from all the trailers and tv spots I've seen is that Monster House was never supposed to be a kids movie. The fact that it is, for better or worse, an animated horror film automatically puts it out of kids movie territory in my opinion. I'm sure I'll enjoy it when I see it (it's rare that I don't find something to like in a film), but I must say I'm disappointed in your preconceived notions. I guess I expected better from a mod. Oh well.

Post by **renderman** » July 25th, 2006, 10:40 am

Not, it's NOT for kids, that's for sure. But it doesn't HAVE to be.
The mocap looked very good, in my opinion, and the facial stuff was WAY
better than Polar Express. I would have liked keyframes instead of mocap,
but in the end, it was the story and the characters that I loved.

As I said before, the MOOD in the film was brilliant. It made me totally
feel a part of the world.

I loved "Cars" as much as the next person, but for some reason
I kept checking my watch. That didn't make it a bad film at all, but
I never did that with "Monster House". In fact, I was sad to see it end!

In the end, it's always going to come down to a matter of taste of each
viewer in the audience. We won't ever 100% agree on an form of
entertainment, but we can be really happy that the filmakers keep trying
to find ways to make us happy!

My $12 (Jeez, remember when a movie was $3.50?)

-Renderman

Post by **James** » July 25th, 2006, 11:13 am

eddievalient wrote:...And you of all people should know that not all animated films are intended for a child audience ( i.e. Corpse Bride). The vibe I got from all the trailers and tv spots I've seen is that Monster House was never supposed to be a kids movie. The fact that it is, for better or worse, an animated horror film automatically puts it out of kids movie territory in my opinion...I guess I expected better from a mod. Oh well.

Way to take one line of my long list (the last line, my most minor quibble) and set up a straw man (look it up).

A few things weren't appropriate for kids (the beer line, for example). The film, like it or not, was marketed to kids. The trailer was before other kids movies this year. And the commercials have been running non-stop on Nickelodeon. If you're going to do that then some things should be off limits unless done subtly.

But just because it is marketed to kids doesn't mean it is appropriate for all kids. That's all I was saying. This is not meant for small kids. Scary stuff and inappropriate and suggestive scenes.

Sorry to fail your expectations as a mod.

Post by **eddievalient** » July 25th, 2006, 2:03 pm

James, I wasn't trying to insult you in any way and I'm sorry if that's the way it sounded (read?), but there is a stigma associated with animation that any and every animated film (except for the very few R rated ones like Heavy Metal) ought to be appropriate for kids to watch and I firmly believe that that doesn't always have to be the case. Using the same example from before, Corpse Bride surprised me in how adult the story was and it was a refreshing change of pace. Monster House looks to be along a similar path. I do enjoy kid-oriented movies (Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius for example) but every once in awhile I like to see something that is aimed more at people my age. It just frustrates me that with all of the very different animated stories in production or about to be released there is still the idea among the general public that animation must always be a child's medium. If only we could shake that idea off, there's no telling the kind of films we could see produced. Personally, I would love to see one of Issac Asimov's sci-fi novels as an animated film (The Caves Of Steel would be perfect).

Post by **askmike1** » July 26th, 2006, 12:05 am

I thought there were very good parts and very bad parts about it. (Warning, some plot spoilers may follow). First let me start with the bad.
1) The falling leaf opening is one of the most overused scenes in cinematic history. It gets really old after a while.
2) The grouchy old guy who's really just misunderstood concept is also much too overused and very predictable.
3) Keeping in that line, this movie was so predictable. I've never seen a movie so predictable. Mean babysitter? Like we've never seen that before.
4) Chowder was so annoying. I understand why they needed a third character, but couldn't they choose one less annoying?
5) Immature jokes. Okay, did we need the constant armpit-type jokes to make the kids like it? Seriously, they served no use.

Now for the good.
1) 3D/Animation: The animation in this film was simply stunning. Everything looked real & even the character designs were great. Plus the Disney-Digital....uhh, I mean Real3D really added depth to the movie (like it did with Chicken Little).
2) Music: The music was great. It really fit the movie well
3) Camera Angles: The directing of this film was like a live-action movie. The different 'camera' movements were great.
4) DJ/Jenny: These story between these two characters played out very nicely

And one more thing, the 4 funniest characters in the movie were underused while Chowder's potty-humor was overused. The 4 characters I am talking about were the two cops & the mom and dad. I thought scenes with the cops & the parents were so funny.

And just as a side note, I'd just like to note the trailers. The Worm movie looks dumb, Zoom looks even worse & Open Season looks to be worse than those 2 combined. The one trailer that saved grace was Meet the Robinsons. The Bowler Hat guy looks to be the standout, the humor was actually funny & no-where in the trailer did they stoop to potty humor or modern references for jokes (and I loved the Todayland reference). Robinson's trailer was also in 3D. I just wished they'd have shown the Santa Clause 3 trailer.

Post by **Dacey** » July 26th, 2006, 10:01 am

(Speaking of "Meet the Robinsons", WHY does the new version of the trailer say that it's "Opening in SELECT THEATERS March 30"?!?! Since when do Disney animated movies only open in select theaters?)

Anyway, I saw "Monster House" yesterday (not in 3D). I think it may be the biggest surprise of the summer so far. All I can say is that if you're thinking about seeing it, by all means, do so. I can't think of many animated movies that have had me shaking in my seat, but this movie was one of them. It was actually quite exciting. Heck, it was even pretty scary. Wows.

Jenny was my favorite. She was super cool.

Post by **askmike1** » July 26th, 2006, 11:36 am

Wendy's Jane wrote:(Speaking of "Meet the Robinsons", WHY does the new version of the trailer say that it's "Opening in SELECT THEATERS March 30"?!?! Since when do Disney animated movies only open in select theaters?)

I believe they meant the 3D version will only be in select theaters (but I could be wrong).

Post by **Dacey** » July 26th, 2006, 3:42 pm

I hope so.

Post by **Jake** » July 27th, 2006, 2:28 am

"Monster House" was, in my opinion, the best animated film of the past few years. I really enjoyed it.

Post by **Ben** » July 27th, 2006, 11:02 am

Well, I am now intrigued by this one, having so many viewpoints coming through loud and clear on it.

From the trailers, the mo-cap (sorry, perf-cap) looks better than Polar, but I think that's because they've gone for cartoony looking characters as opposed to the "hey, we're all Tom Hanks" approach in the last movie.

I'm assuming the annoying kid is the fat one? Which doesn't surprise me because he looks like a rip from The Goonies anyway, so he'll annoy in the usual fashion but come off less annoying as I know what to expect.

I must say the ending has me anticipating the house animation though!

I agree that movies with kids in them are not always meant for kids, but do agree with James that those same movies should not be marketed to kids. I actually think Monster House should have been rated R to make that difference and also allowed the filmmakers to go all out on their horror sides. That way, the references could have stayed and it wouldn't have been such strong content for a lower rated movie.

That said, with the way perf-cap is coming on, Zemeckis' Beowulf should look amazing!

Post by **Dacey** » July 27th, 2006, 11:38 am

I'm assuming the annoying kid is the fat one? Which doesn't surprise me because he looks like a rip from The Goonies anyway, so he'll annoy in the usual fashion but come off less annoying as I know what to expect.

Actually, my audience seemed to *love* Chowder. He got many of the film's best lines.

Post by **James** » July 27th, 2006, 12:02 pm

I didn't say it was bad - I said it wasn't that good! There is a difference!

stigma associated with animation that any and every animated film (except for the very few R rated ones like Heavy Metal) ought to be appropriate for kids

I agree that that should not be the perception. However, if a studio makes the choice of marketing the film to kids to widen their potential profit, that comes with the chance of it being thought of as "a kids movie".

Post by **spaz** » July 27th, 2006, 12:45 pm

saw Monster House lastnight. i thought it was really good. the characters took time to warm up too and it seemed mocap was being used, though it was pretty entertaining. the dialogue was pretty well written.