Date: Sun, 15 Nov 2009 22:29:49 -0500
From: Alexander Winfield <sheepwpunks-AT-gmail.com>
To: puptcrit-AT-puptcrit.org
Subject: Re: [Puptcrit] A Christmas Carol


Such technical marvels often leave me cold. In much of today's cinema, I
sense a certain satisfied laziness - a lack of interest in pushing
boundaries, crafting genuine moments or testing an actor's abilities. I saw
'Inglorious Basterds' some time ago, which left me impressed with certain
performances but with an overall feeling that Tarantino was coasting. I had
a vision of a once great actor at a party, drunk, doing voices to woo the
crowd.
   To make this puppet-related I will mention an upcoming film an animator
friend of mine recommended: Mary and Max (
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-88IfWaSJIE&feature=related)
   This is from the same director who made the short 'Harvey Krumpet', which
was one of the more unbearably affecting films I've seen recently. I am
looking forward to seeing both The Fantastic Mr. Fox and Mary and Max...but
I am nervous about Mary and Max, because I do not know what to expect from
it. A rare feeling for me.

-Alexander

On Sun, Nov 15, 2009 at 9:42 PM, Robert Rogers <
robertrogers-AT-robertrogerspuppets.com> wrote:

> Today I spent $40.00 to take my family to see the 3-D Robert Zemekis film
> of "A Christmas Carol."  Though technically brilliant, it left me feeling
> uninvolved and indifferent.  First of all, every other scene (that is, those
> not conceived by Charles Dickens) involves a fast chase, or a zooming flight
> through the sky, or a shooting along some ice.  It's as if Robert Zemekis
> doesn't trust his audience to pay attention to the story and feels that he
> has to periodically excite them with some fast "action."  Furthermore, the
> camera constantly encircles the characters for no other reason than it can
> be done.
>
> Finally, the characters that result from motion capture technology are
> incredible, but just lack the heart of real actors.
>
> Robert Rogers
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