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Invasion U.S.A. (1985)
A full-of-clichés action classic, with an intelligent premise and a great supervillain
As a series of action sequences, this is a classic. But with a bad plot full of clichés, it's not a convincible movie to me by the technical definitions. Again, here we have an ex-cop who had resigned of his police job probably due to the corruption in the organizational charts and now lives alone in the middle of nowhere, but later he is convinced that he should return to finish an unfinished job. Regardless some corrupt officials and a curious but impolite -although beautiful and potentially romantic- journalist woman, we also have a #ColdWar-era Russian supercriminal who decides to do his best ever job, using an army of communist guerillas out of nowhere; although this time in the heart of America. Actually, this new premise is the positive technical aspect of the movie: To invade the greatest country of our world by a bunch of left-winger scums, is definitely out of mind. As the world saw its Islamic jihadist version some years later on the 9/11, and as the movie's endline declares, "No one thought it could ever happen here".
One potentially great aspect of this movie, lies in this interesting quote of its Russian supervillain, Mikhail Rostov (Richard Lynch): "Tonight we make history, Nikko. America has not been invaded by a foreign enemy in nearly 200 years. Look at them, Nikko: Soft, spineless decadents! They don't even understand the nature of their own freedom; or how we could use it against them. They are their own worst enemy, but they don't know it." _This sentences, remind me of Christopher Nolan's 2008 classic, "The Dark Knight" and what the Joker done with the people of Gotham. Unfortunately, in despite of that movie, here this quote only remained as a quote, and the screenwriters could not write the plot based upon it.
But those clichés are so much common in the action genre -to be honest, in all genres- and should not be regarded as a too much great weakness. Instead, we can disregard all those technical and intellectual critiques to enjoy watching a series of memorable action sequences (especially, the church and the school bus sequences) by Mr. Chuck Norris, one of the most interesting action guys of the 70's and 80's. I would also mention the great acting of Mr. Richard Lynch, along with his own amazingly charismatic persona, which has made this movie more memorable than what it ought to be expectedly. He was such a legend.
Luxo Jr. (1986)
Our dear old -but forever childlike- little lovely lamp
There is not any story (by the technical definition) here; but this is where Luxo, Jr. and its affable parent have appeared for the first time. During recent decades, this little lovely lamp has become one of the most lovable symbols of the world. In spite of its rather antique CGI style and also lack of any technical narrative structure; this very short animation is sufficiently lovely to me, as a prequel to the beautiful long journey of this little symbolic creature of Mr. John Lasseter and Pixar Studios.
Tin Toy (1988)
A dramatism of the philosophy of love
Tin Toy has always been exampled as a technical avant-garde work of art, from the CGI/3D perspective. That's true, but what in this animation short is interesting for me, is its short but enough dramatism of love and the philosophy of love. One can mention this film as a good example of drama: First of all, we meet a classic toy. Soon after, we watch his eyes which start to move around, and this is the beginning step for us to enter the fantastic universe of Mr. John Lasseter. Then a bald baby with a very big diaper enters the room, and the dramatic question is being created: he plays with his toys so that he likely breaks them; so Tin Toy fears him and wants to escape. During the next minute, we watch his escape, and there is a very cinematic short sequence where he unintentionally enters his own box and the camera/cadre's movement continues in silence, which reminds me some of the great movies of Sir. Alfred Hitchcock, like the Rear Window (1954) and Vertigo (1958). Then we watch the baby coming near and nearer as Tin Toy's PoV, and this shot somehow has aspects of horror, to be honest! Then Tin Toy manages to escape under the bed and now he meets other toys who already escaped there. This is the point which he has fulfilled his dramatic intention. But then the baby falls down and starts to cry, and here is the turning point of the drama: Tin Toy should decide on staying there and saving his own life, or going out and helping the baby. He chooses the latter, and becomes a true lover, and a love itself. He entertains the baby and makes him stop crying and laughing again; and as one can always see in every love affair, the baby forgets him very soon and start to play with the toy's box, instead of the toy itself! Tin Toy gets angry and tries to play with him more, and they get out the room while we can see the baby's cheerful voice. This is how this short drama ends.
Lifted (2006)
A valuable animation short of Pixar Studios, although it's not one of my favourite ones
This movie is not one of my most favourite animation shorts of Pixar Studios, although has some detailed but valuable aspect. First of all, is its subject: Most Sci-Fi works of art and literature, consider extraterrestrial aliens as species much more intelligent and dangerous than the human being. In those works, aliens have intelligence, powers, technologies, etc. which are thousands of years beyond us. They are definitely serious, not kidding at all. But here, we have a UFO with two funny dumb aliens, which has come to earth for training one of them. Both of them are funny, but the important point is that they make mistakes.
Second, is its nice crazy credits: In the opening, where Luxo Jr. fades to the full moon in the sky; and in the ending, where we can't see the pictures but we hear that the young man wakes up in the morning and we hear a Wilhelm scream.
Third is its tribute to the Tin Toy (1988), another early animation short of the same studio. And fourth, is the nice sequence where the fat alien makes everything OK as it was be in the house before they come. Look how nice are the lights, the angles and also the movements of objects, especially the glasses and flowers which are put back onto the table.
I think that as an animation short with a running time of only 5 minutes, this movie is successful and definitely worths to watch two or even three times.
Gulliver's Travels (2010)
Probably one of the worst adaptations of Jonathan Swift's classic
Full of unneeded characters and events, this movie is a disappointing waste. In the previous decades, lack of the technical and graphical platforms needed to make a standard live-action adaptation of Swift's novel was clear; so nobody could expect the industry to do so. But nowadays, in the 21st century, one can and should.
In my review about one of the earliest cinematic adaptations of this novel, I wrote that most adaptations often disregard Brobdingnag in favour of Lilliput, so most people think that Gulliver's first travel was his only travel! Here is another prove to this fact, as we see Brobdingnag for a very short piece of time at the end of the movie, although neither we see the Brobdingnagian royal court at all, nor Glumdalclitch is like the character in the novel.
To be honest, this movie has only two positive points which can be seen in its plot: First, in the novel, Gulliver's main stimulant to leave his own job as a physician and starting to sail was the low wages of his job at the end of the 17th century. Nowadays, physicians have a very good business, so the screenwriters decided to change Gulliver's job to a mailroom worker of a New York City newspaper, and so keeping that stimulant in a way compatible with the economic situation of the 21st century. Besides, he loves a travelling journalist but is too shy to tell her anything. So he decides to go to the Bermuda Triangle to write an exquisite report for her, and that's where he shipwrecks off a strange island and so discovers Lilliput. This is the second valuable point of the movie's screenplay: Nowadays, one cannot accept that there is such a miniature city on the earth; but people still believe in the magical situation of the Bermuda Triangle. So, why not? Lilliput is right there!
The 3 Worlds of Gulliver (1960)
Welcome to Brobdingnag!
I don't know if there is another adaptation of Jonathan Swift's classic which depicts Gulliver's second travel to Brobdingnag or not; but at least we can watch a loosely depiction of that travel in this movie. As I know, most adaptations concentrate on the first travel (to Lilliput), and believe me, this has caused most people of the world to believe that Gulliver's first travel was his only travel! So, I think that this movie has been a considerable experience. Besides, I would mention good actings of Grégoire Aslan, Basil Sydney, and Martin Benson; respectively as King Brob of Brobdingnag, the Emperor of Lilliput, and Flimnap.
Unfortunately, the movie itself is not as high-quality as it should be. The direction, editing, stage and costume designings are not satisfactory to me. Its graphic is very bad; and along with some very notable goofs (e.g. the size of the Brobdingnagian basket at England's beach, at final sequence) made me wonder that, regarding the low level of graphics in those days, it was really better to make an animation or at least a live-action instead!
Gulliver Mickey (1934)
An animation short without any theme, and with an incomplete but technical plot
It has been said that after watching the 1939 adaptation of "Gulliver's Travels" by the Fleischer Studio, Walt Disney said that "We can do better than that, with our second-string animators!" If we should judge this opinion based on Disney's actual work upon Jonathan Swift's classic, which is this animation short, our judgement would not be truly positive. To be honest, the Fleischer Studio's adaptation is really better than this one.
Its first notable weakness is the lack of any thematic statements, which makes this animation short a "simply entertaining" one. The second, is its incomplete plot. What we see here is a one-act plot which even can be seen as just a sketch.
The ironic fact is that the best aspect of this animation short is exactly its incomplete plot! Unlike the 1939 movie, here we don't have a work of art claiming to be an adaptation of Swift's novel; and since this is not a completed plot, there are not any other settings of Swift's novel here (including Gulliver's other travels). Instead, we find Mickey reading "Gulliver's Travels" at home. Then we watch a bunch of mice orphans who are playing in Mickey's living room, so he decides to play the role of Lemuel Gulliver for them. This is why we find him in Lilliput. This literary device makes it possible to create another story within the main story, which is a strong and antique narrative technique, and certainly is an advantage comparing to Fleischer Studio's adaptation which was made 5 years later (That was a lovely and memorable animation movie, but I cannot accept it as an "adaptation" of Swift's classic). As a result, we see that the climax of the second story (Mickey is fighting Pete in Lilliput) shifts to the falling action of the first story (Mickey is telling a story to the mice orphans at home). Besides, we have a little mouse who -unlike the other mice orphans- is the external observer of Mickey's narrative, and finally makes the first story's denouement, as brings him a toy spider that frightens him a lot, and so makes him pay off the reality.
Regarding such a technical sketch, I wonder why Disney and his colleagues neither considered any theme for it, nor developed its plot. This animation short could be really better.
P.S. I would like to mention two short shots which are visually considerable: first, when day "breaks" and we see starry night sky as a dark glass which breaks to pieces, and second the rooster who crows on Mickey's body in the morning which somehow reminds me some Pablo Picasso's sketches.
Gulliver's Travels (1939)
A lovely unforgettable classic which could be very better
The movie begins with this sentence shining on its beginning credits: "Based on Jonathan Swift's immortal tale". But that's not true, as it is very loosely based on Swift's classic. Actually, the plot is this: A man -whose name is Lemuel Gulliver- is being shipwrecked and washes onto a beach near Lilliput, a miniature city with very short and funny people. The Princess Glory of Lilliput and the Prince David of Blefuscu are going to marry, but their fathers make war, because of their argument about which one of their national anthems to be played in the wedding.
Apparently, we only watch a quite lovely romantic comedy caricature of Gulliver's first travel to Lilliput and Blefuscu, which ignores the rest of Swift's book and the most contents of Gulliver's very first travel, especially its thematic statements. This is one of its major weaknesses. The plot's timing, is another notable aspect: Gulliver wakes up for the first time in the 38th minute (exactly in the middle of the movie); and the first act ends in the 48th minute, which is more than 60% of the whole time!
But, the first act's final sequence, where the people of Lilliput are taking care of Gulliver and making him up while singing the lovely song "It's a Hap-Hap-Happy Day", is probably one of the most memorable sequences in the history of animation. There are other lovely and unforgettable sequences: I love the scene where the people of Lilliput are going on the bridge to find "the giant" at night, while we can see the lights of their lanterns and torches through the gaps between the wood boards of the bridge. I love those very lovely and unforgettable kings, King Bombo of Blefuscu and King Little of Lilliput. I love that trio of "dear spies" of King Bombo (Sneak, Snoop, and Snitch) along as Twinkletoes, the funny carrier pigeon. And I love those two lovely neighbours, the old man who always has a big funnel as a hearing aid in his hands and the young man who always gets angry and cry out to him when he can't hear well.
To be honest, the story and its animation form is really lovely, as long as we can ignore Princess Glory and Prince David. They are two serious humans, two serious lovers from our world, but in Lilliputian and Blefuscian sizes. They are quite different from other characters both by form and personality, and they disfigure the whole movie. The idea of merging two national anthems to make a united love song which would unite them and also their nations is nice, but I wonder why the directors of animation insisted on creating those two characters quite different from the other people of Lilliput and Blefuscu, even from their own fathers.
This animation movie, is a lovely unforgettable classic which could be very better.
P.S. That's quite strange to me, that why there are very few female characters in this movie! Actually, except Princess Glory and less than two or three citizens of Lilliput whom we see in less than two or three very short shots, all other characters are men!
Geri's Game (1997)
A stunning animation short, with a simple mixed theme, an excellent plot, and a quite adequate form
For many reasons, this animation short is great and unforgettable, both technically and artistically. To construct a story with only one character, has been always a considerable technical challenge for many story-tellers. Geri's Game is not a precise response to this challenge, as we have one person with two considerably different characters here; but it is certainly an excellent technical plot development based upon the challenge. From the technical PoV, the plot is stunningly great: Its clear and fast setting makes us to know Geri's lovely personality and his two rather different -but also lovable- characters very soon and well. Then, at the beginning of the second minute, we watch the main conflict which is Geri's rather aggressive character wants to defeat Geri's rather defensive character. And then, we have that lovable turning point which makes Geri's Game, a quite memorable and lovely story for all of us.
The story's theme is a mix of three simple themes which have been addressed nice and well: To appreciate chess, to pay more attention to the senior people and their loneliness, and to construct a plot technically appropriate to make an animation short film (which was not an easy job in 1997, unlike nowadays). I believe that Mr. Pinkava and his colleagues in PIXAR animation studio, have been quite successful in addressing these three thematic statements.
The last notable point is the film's very suitable medium, genre, and form; which are quite appropriate and adequate. I believe no one would like to remake Geri's Game, because of nowadays' much more better Computer Graphics. As one can confirm, its graphic is quite adequate to tell such a nice and unforgettable story.
Le voyage de Gulliver à Lilliput et chez les géants (1902)
A great technical masterpiece by an eternal master of Cinema
This short movie, is a great technical masterpiece by a legendary master of Cinema. The film is loosely based on Jonathan Swift's classic (as only mentions Gulliver's first encounters with Lilliputians and the Giants), nor has any thematic statements about the original story; but is an excellent example of Georges Méliès' magnificent technical abilities, which are amazing for us in the 21st century as much as for people in 120 years ago. Méliès is an eternal master of Cinema.
Knick Knack (1989)
A brilliant animation short with a philosophical view to the universe
This animation short is brilliant, considering its determinist philosophical view to the universe mixed with a very fitting narrative structure (specially due to its eastern style of philosophical symbolism which considers human beings as determined beings as toys; and reminds me of the great persian poet and philosopher, Khayam), along with a very good technical frame which was really avant-garde for its time. To construct a successful story with such qualities, is not an easy job to do, at all. So, one could comprehend how more difficult has been Mr. Lasseter's job to make it via an animation short film.
No matter do we believe in determinism or not, believe me, there are not so many philosophical movies which do have a really good narrative and technical quality; and this short title is certainly one of them!
Pauvre Pierrot (1892)
A rather memorable pre-cinema antique, by Charles-Émile Reynaud
Like his other work, Autour d'une cabine, Charles-Émile Reynaud has shown us again a pre-cinema antique without any theme. But in spite of his other work, this one has a rather acceptable sketch (which one cannot call a plot yet), and also a memorable form. Although the drawings are not excellent and there are some obvious mistakes (e.g. the unacceptable perspective and bad movements of the characters), it is totally a memorable work, thanks to its praxinoscopic form.
Autour d'une cabine (1894)
A bad pre-cinema antique, with a strange strength!
This short antique animation does not have any theme, but has a bad plot (or, to better say: a bad sketch), and a rather memorable form. To declare the ending by using a boat's sail, is actually the most memorable point of this animation, to me.