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jak68
Reviews
Jane and the Dragon (2005)
Super piece of animation
Caught this by accident while channel hopping and was blown away by its quality both in the animation and its humorous tone. The stories have a medieval setting based around a castle and Jane(her quest to train as a knight), the other kids in the castle and her best friend,who just happens to be a dragon. The dragon steals the show, as his mannerisms and sense of humour are just laugh-out-loud funny. The animation uses motion capture. I know that this is not the first time its been used in a cartoon(remake of Captain Scarlett)but nevertheless it adds quality and helps to lift this above the ordinary. The backgrounds appear to have been created to make them seem as if they were done in pencil;the subtle blend of this and the CGI work just gives this a fresh,different look.
Children of Men (2006)
That rarest of things...a film better than the book
I avoided this film initially because the religious overtones of the book really put me off what was otherwise a great idea. Thankfully these aspects are played down. Although the terrorists are called FISHES and they are expecting the second coming in the shape of a miracle birth. The film chooses to focus on telling a story of hope out of hopelessness. Everything is unrelentingly grim,grey and all the better for it. Rarely have I seen such a vivid dystopia of a possible future,and it works so well. The sci-fi elements are played down so that they become just a part of the story(in the same way as say,Gattaca,for example). Best of all,Clive Owen finally has a vehicle where he can show that he is a good actor. Sir Micheal Caine has never been funnier on screen in ages and almost steals the film as Owens' pot smoking friend.Julianna Moore makes the most of her part and limited screen time (and looks stunning)her hair, a rare glimpse of colour in an otherwise grey world. The ending may be a bit trite, but the film wins overall because it focuses on contemporary issues making this future even more plausible.