Annie Award winners!

The 39th annual Annie Awards were held last night and Rango did extremely well picking up a lot of the big awards.  History was also made as Jennifer Yuh Nelson won for Best Director for a feature film for Kung Fu Panda 2, the first female to do so in this category.  Congratulations!  Rise of the Planet of the Apes and Transformers: Dark of the Moon won in the live-action categories too.  Read on below for the rest of the winners in the feature film categories.

Best Animated Feature
Rango

Best Animated Special Production
Kung Fu Panda - Secrets of the Masters

Best Animated Short Subject
Adam and Dog - Minkyu Lee

Animated Effects in an Animated Production
The Adventures of Tintin - Kevin Romond

Animated Effects in a Live-Action Production
Transformers: Dark of the Moon - Florent Andorra

Character Animation in a Feature Production
Rio - Jeff Gabor

Character Animation in a Live-Action Production
Rise of the Planet of the Apes - Eric Reynolds

Character Design in a Feature Production
Rango - Mark "Crash" McCreery

Directing in a Feature Production
Kung Fu Panda 2 - Jennifer Yuh Nelson

Music in a Feature Production
The Adventures of Tintin - John Williams

Production Design in a Feature Production
Kung Fu Panda 2 - Raymond Zilbach

Storyboarding in a Feature Production
Winnie the Pooh - Jeremy Spears

Voice Acting in a Feature Production
Arthur Christmas - Bill Nighy as Grandsanta

Writing in a Feature Production
Rango - John Logan, Gore Verbinski and James Byrkit

Editing in a Feature Production
Rango - Craig Wood, A.C.E.

Juried Awards

Windsor McCay Award - Walt Peregoy, Borge Ring, Ronald Searle

June Foray - Art Leonardi

Special Achievement - Depth Analysis

Visual Effects Society's best of the year

Also announcing their top nominated work of the past year were the Visual Effects Society (VES) for their 10th annual awards.  Let's see who got nominated.

Outstanding Visual Effects in a Visual Effects-Driven Feature Motion Picture
Captain America: The First Avenger
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Transformers: Dark of the Moon

Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Feature Motion Picture
Anonymous
Hugo
Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows
Source Code
War Horse

Outstanding Visual Effects in an Animated Feature Motion Picture
Arthur Christmas
Kung Fu Panda 2
Puss in Boots
Rango
The Adventures of Tintin

Outstanding Animated Character in a Live Action Feature Motion Picture
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 - Ukranian Ironbelly
Paul - Paul
Rise of the Planet of the Apes - Caesar
The Thing - Edvard/Adam

Outstanding Animated Character in an Animated Feature Motion Picture
Puss in Boots - Puss
Rango - Rango
Rio - Nigel
The Adventures of Tintin - Tintin

Outstanding Created Environment in a Live Action Feature Motion Picture
Anonymous - London
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 - Hogwarts
Thor - Heimdall's Observatory
Transformers: Dark of the Moon - 155 Wacker Drive

Outstanding Created Environment in an Animated Feature Motion Picture
Puss in Boots - The Cloud World
Rango - Main Street Dirt
The Adventures of Tintin - Bagghar
The Adventures of Tintin - Docks
The Adventures of Tintin - Pirate Battle

Outstanding Virtual Cinematography in a Live Action Feature Motion Picture
Hugo
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Thor
Transformers: Dark of the Moon

Outstanding Virtual Cinematography in an Animated Feature Motion Picture
Arthur Christmas
Cars 2
Rango
The Adventures of Tintin

Outstanding Models in a Feature Motion Picture
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 - Hogwarts School Buildings
Hugo - Train Crash
Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol - Parking Garage
Transformers: Dark of the Moon - Driller

Outstanding Compositing in a Feature Motion Picture
Captain America: The First Avenger
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Transformers: Dark of the Moon

Looks like The Adventures of Tintin is leading the pack with both Rise of the Planet of the Apes and the final Harry Potter right behind it.  Good luck to all the nominees, your hard work makes all the wonderful visuals onscreen look so effortless.  The awards will be announced on February 7th, 2012.

Annie Awards 2011 Nominations

It's that time again!  The Annie Awards, also know as the Animation awards, have announced their nominations for the best of the year in animation.

2011 ANNIE AWARD NOMINATIONS PRODUCTION CATEGORIES

Best Animated Feature

A Cat in Paris – Folimage

Arrugas (Wrinkles) - Perro Verde Films, S.L.


Arthur Christmas – Sony Pictures Animation, Aardman Animations

Cars 2 – Pixar Animation Studios

Chico & Rita – Chico & Rita Distribution Limited

Kung Fu Panda 2 – DreamWorks Animation

Puss In Boots – DreamWorks Animation

Rango – Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon Movies present A Blind Wink/GK Films Production

Rio – Blue Sky Studios


Tintin – Amblin Entertainment, Wingnut Films and Kennedy/Marshall

Full nominations list after the jump

Movie Review: Kung Fu Panda 2

I've had a couple of weeks off from the blog.  Real life and bad internet connections intervened but I'm back and ready to blog again.  So, let's get to it.

First off, I was prepared for the Awesomeness (with a capital A) of this movie and as a sequel, Kung Fu Panda 2 really delivers.  If wasn't for abysmal 3D in the theater that I saw it at, things were so bad that at plenty a time, it was better to watch the film without the 3D glasses.  I'll have to see this again just to appreciate all the action and animation which occurs so fast.  I finally understood what Roger Ebert has been bemoaning in his columns.  If the theater is not equipped to show 3D properly, your movie going experience is going to be disaster.  

But let's put that aside and get to the actual film.  This time around, Po the Panda joins the Furious Five, Tigress, Monkey, Mantis, Crane and Viper as the Dragon Warrior and fight against injustice.  Despite his awkwardness, he is beginning to fit into their dynamic.  However, a new danger looms ahead for them as Lord Shen is out to destroy kung fu with a new and dangerous weapon.  Master Shifu warns them and advises them to find inner peace as they go off to find this new enemy.  

However, Po also has some other pressing matters at hand.  Most importantly, the mystery of who his real parents were.  This is one of the more intriguing parts of the movie.  Po finally has a heart to heart with his father, Mr. Ping, who admits to him that he found him one day amidst the grocery deliveries out back.  The whole flashback was executed really well and quite touching too.  I mean, who doesn't love baby pandas?  

The fight to save kung fu also becomes Po's quest to find out what happened to his real parents.  But Po manages to save the day in the end, quite obviously, and it's on to more adventures as the Kung Fu Panda franchise moves forward to another sequel and SPOILER ALERT, SPOILER ALERT, it involves his dad.  I wished we could have spent more time with the pandas, that whole storyline seemed a bit too rushed and incomplete and now I see why.  The next movie will more panda-centric and to that I say, more pandas, please!  I left the theater wanting to know more of Po's story despite the really bad 3D.  Do not miss this film!!  

PS- Kudos for to the duo of Jennifer Yuh Nelson and Melissa Cobb as director and producer of this animated feature.  Women in film!!! We need to see more of this.  

Directed by Jennifer Yuh Nelson; Written by Jonathan Aibel, Glenn Berger; Music by Hans Zimmer and John Powell

Rating:  (the film)

Rating:  (the 3D)

Meet the villains from Kung Fu Panda 2!

Thanks to the new Facebook page of Kung Fu Panda 2 where a whole slew of new characters have been introduced.  Today, let's take a look at the villains Po and the famous five are going to be up against.  Go "like" it today!

Lord Shen is hyper intelligent, supremely lethal, and burns with ambition. It’s a combustible combination. He’s intent on wiping out kung fu and taking over China. That puts him on a collision course with Po and The Five.

The aged Soothsayer has been advisor to the Peacocks, rulers of Gongmen City, her entire life. She is wise and gifted with knowledge of the future.

The Wolf Boss and his pack were once guards in Gongmen City’s royal palace. Now he is Lord Shen’s most loyal servant, military strategist and trusted right paw.

The Gorillas are the muscle in Lord Shen’s army. If his evil schemes require any heavy lifting, they’ll be the ones doing it. Shen’s personal guard is made up entirely of these powerful (and powerfully large) brutes, who are honor bound to their master.

DreamWorks announces animation films slate through 2014!

Loads of information coming through from DreamWorks Animation regarding their slate of films through the year 2014.  Looks like someone's going to be busy.

Here's a very detailed breakdown of each of the nine films.

• Kung Fu Panda 2 will be released on May 26, 2011. It is being directed by Jennifer Yuh Nelson (Kung Fu Panda), produced by Melissa Cobb (Kung Fu Panda) and written by Jonathan Aibel & Glenn Berger (Kung Fu Panda). It stars Jack Black, Angelina Jolie, Dustin Hoffman, Gary Oldman, Jackie Chan, Seth Rogen, Lucy Liu, David Cross, James Hong and Michelle Yeoh. In the sequel, Po is living his dream as The Dragon Warrior, protecting the Valley of Peace alongside his friends and fellow kung fu masters, The Furious Five. But Po’s life of awesomeness is threatened by the emergence of a formidable villain, who plans to use a secret, unstoppable weapon to conquer China and destroy kung fu. Po must look to his past and uncover the secrets of his mysterious origins… only then will he be able to unlock the strength he needs to succeed.
• Puss In Boots will be released on November 4, 2011. It is directed by Chris Miller (Shrek the Third) and produced by Joe Aguilar (Merry Madagascar) and Latifa Ouaou (Monsters vs. Aliens). It is being written by Tom Wheeler (The Cape). Andrew Adamson (Shrek, The Chronicles of Narnia) and Guillermo del Toro (Pan’s Labyrinth) are serving as executive producers on the film, which stars Antonio Banderas, Salma Hayek, Zach Galifianakis, Billy Bob Thornton and Amy Sedaris. Way before he ever met Shrek, the legendary Puss In Boots goes on a heroic journey, teaming up with mastermind Humpty Dumpty and the street-savvy Kitty Softpaws to steal the famed Goose that lays the Golden Eggs. It’s the adventure of nine lifetimes!
• Madagascar 3 will be released on June 8, 2012. It is directed by Eric Darnell (Madagascar, Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa) and produced by Mireille Soria (Madagascar, Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa) and Mark Swift (Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa). It is being written by Noah Baumbach (Fantastic Mr. Fox) and once again stars Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, David Schwimmer, Jada Pinkett Smith, Sacha Baron Cohen, Cedric The Entertainer and Andy Richter. Alex the Lion, Marty the Zebra, Gloria the Hippo, and Melman the Giraffe are still fighting to get home to their beloved Big Apple and of course, King Julien, Maurice and the Penguins are all along for the comedic adventure. Their journey takes them through Europe where they find the perfect cover: a traveling circus, which they reinvent — Madagascar style.
• Rise of the Guardians, based on the forthcoming books by William Joyce, will be released on November 21, 2012. It is directed by Peter Ramsey (Monsters vs. Aliens: Mutant Pumpkins from Outer Space) and co-directed by Joyce. The film is being produced by Christina Steinberg (Bee Movie, National Treasure) and Nancy Bernstein, long-time head of production at DreamWorks Animation. Rise of the Guardians is being written by Pulitzer Prize winner David Lindsay-Abaire (Rabbit Hole) and executive produced by Guillermo del Toro and Michael Siegel. It stars Chris Pine, Alec Baldwin, Hugh Jackman, Isla Fisher and Jude Law. More than a collection of the well-known childhood legends, Rise of the Guardians is an epic adventure that tells the story of a group of heroes — each with extraordinary abilities. When an evil spirit known as Pitch lays down the gauntlet to take over the world, the immortal Guardians must join forces for the first time to protect the hopes, beliefs and imagination of children all over the world.
• The Croods will be released on March 1, 2013. It is being written and directed by two-time Academy Award nominee Chris Sanders (How to Train Your Dragon, Lilo & Stitch) and Kirk DeMicco (Space Chimps) and produced by Kristine Belson (How to Train Your Dragon) and Jane Hartwell (Shrek). It stars Nicolas Cage, Ryan Reynolds, Emma Stone, Catherine Keener, Clark Duke and Cloris Leachman. The Croods is a comedy adventure that takes us back to a previously undiscovered era in the history of our planet known as the Croodaceous, when nature was still a work-in-progress… full of never-before- seen creatures and landscapes. Audiences will relate to the hilarious family antics as an imaginative and resourceful newcomer helps the Croods navigate their way through the fantastic world beyond their cave.
• Turbo will be released on June 7, 2013. It is being directed by David Soren (Merry Madagascar), who first brought the project to the studio, and produced by Lisa Stewart (Monsters vs. Aliens). It is being written by Darren Lemke (Shrek Forever After) together with Soren. Turbo tells the story of an ordinary garden snail with an impossible dream: to become the fastest snail in the world. When a freak accident gives him extraordinary speed, Turbo sets out to try to make this dream come true.
• In Me and My Shadow, which will be released on November 8, 2013, the studio will pioneer a groundbreaking combination of both CG and traditional animation techniques seamlessly together throughout the film. The film is directed by Mark Dindal (Chicken Little, The Emperor’s New Groove) and produced by Melissa Cobb (Kung Fu Panda, Kung Fu Panda 2) and Teresa Cheng (Shrek Forever After, Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron). It is being written by Tom Astle and Matt Ember (Get Smart). Me and My Shadow tells the story of Shadow Stan, an extremely frustrated shadow who yearns for a dynamic life but happens to be stuck with Stanley Grubb, the world’s most boring human. Finally pushed to the brink, Shadow Stan breaks the singular rule of the Shadow World — “They lead, we follow” — and takes control of Stanley!
• Mr. Peabody & Sherman will be released on March 21, 2014. It is directed by Rob Minkoff (Stuart Little, The Lion King) and produced by Jason Clark (Monster House, Stuart Little) and Denise Nolan Cascino (Megamind). It is being written by Craig Wright (United States of Tara, Six Feet Under). Robert Downey Jr., Susan Downey, Bullwinkle Studio’s Tiffany Ward and Classic Media’s Eric Ellenbogen are serving as executive producers on the film, which stars two-time Academy Award nominee Robert Downey Jr. Based on Jay Ward’s classic cartoon, Mr. Peabody is the world’s smartest person who happens to be a dog. He and his “pet” boy Sherman discover that someone has stolen their time traveling WABAC machine and is changing moments in history to disastrous and comical results. It’s up to this most unexpected of father-son teams to somehow put a stop to this villain before his actions destroy the space-time continuum in Mr. Peabody & Sherman.
• How to Train Your Dragon 2, the sequel to the Academy Award-nominated original film from 2010, will be released on June 20, 2014. It is being directed and written by Dean DeBlois (How to Train Your Dragon) and produced by Bonnie Arnold (How to Train Your Dragon). Also based on the book series by Cressida Cowell, the sequel is being executive produced by Chris Sanders (How to Train Your Dragon) together with DeBlois. How to Train Your Dragon 2again stars Jay Baruchel, Gerard Butler, Craig Ferguson, America Ferrera, Jonah Hill, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, T.J. Miller and Kristen Wiig.

What are you looking forward to the most? I've got my favorites, Kung Fu Panda 2 and How to Train Your Dragon 2.  Shame that they're first and last on the list.  I've got a long wait to see Hiccup and Toothless again.  

Trailer Time: Super Bowl Edition

Well, the Green Bay Packers won Super Bowl XLV by defeating the Pittsburgh Steelers 31-25 but the real reason to tune in were the commercials.  In particular, lots and lots of movie trailers.  There's a long list ahead of us so let's get started.

Oh, brother, I'm trying very hard to control myself and not laugh at Chris Evans here.  It was all fine when the posters and stills were released of him as Captain America: The First Avenger.  But the effects seem really cheesy and what are they aiming for? A Hulk-like body?  Not working for me.  Let's reserve judgement until the next trailer.

Moving on, here's a character who doesn't think much of his body image.  It's Po the Panda from Kung Fu Panda 2: The Kaboom of Doom who's back with Furious Five to "wok you".  Don't get it?  Watch the trailer.  They will wok you!

I'm sure you've wanted at some point in your life to watch a movie about cowboys or aliens. But in Jon Favreau's new film, Cowboys vs. Aliens you don't have to chose. You get both! And you don't pick Bond over Indy, you get both. Do you see where this is heading? Still no clue what the movie is about, I'm just going to watch it as two-for-one feature sci-fi meets western.



The robots are back but not Megan Fox. Although...nevermind, I'm not going to go there. It's Transformers 3: Dark of the Moon. I grow weary of this title.



Here's yet another Avenger, Thor, and while he may not be as buff as Captain America (no one is!), he sure is angry a lot. And he has a big hammer. You don't want to piss him off.



More Jack Sparrow awesomeness in Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, thanks to Johnny Depp. To think an entire franchise rest solely on this one character, without him, there would be no films. Prepare yourself to lots of cheeky one-liners.



This is the one for me. What I was waiting for, a J.J. Abrams film after what seems like forever, Super 8, named after the old cameras.  I swear I got goosebumps when the somewhat familiar music and "From Steven Spielberg" tagline came up. This is totally giving me a sinister E.T. vibe. I cannot wait for this film.

Finally, I saved the best for last. You won't find a more colorful trailer than this, the misadventures of Blu the macau all the way from Brazil. You had me at Rio.

Around the World with Posters: Animation Edition

It seems all the animated movies releasing this year decided to debut some new posters around the same time.  Here's a look at Rio, Cars 2, Kung Fu Panda 2 and Winnie the Pooh. 

   

The Furious Five plus Po in this Spanish Poster of Kung Fu Panda 2

The Hungarian Poster shows us some possible destinations that Cars 2 is headed to.

Meet the leads of Rio, Blu and Jewel in this new character poster.

Meet the comic reliefs.

And the sidekicks.

And the henchman.

And finally, the cutest poster from Winnie the Pooh.  Poor Piglet!

What to Watch - List of Upcoming Films in 2011.

2011, already! Confused about what films are releasing this year? Never fear! I'm putting together a list of movies that I want to watch in this new year and I'm sure some of the titles will match what you would like to see as well.  Let's get started, shall we?

JANUARY

Country Strong

Directed by: Shana Feste

Starring: Gwyneth Paltrow, Tim McGraw, Garrett Hedlund, Leighton Meester

The Way Back

Directed by: Peter Weir

Starring: Ed Harris, Jim Sturgess, Colin Farrell, Mark Strong, Saoirse Ronan

The Company Men

Directed by: John Wells

Starring: Ben Affleck, Tommy Lee Jones, Chris Cooper, Kevin Costner, Maria Bello

Read on for the rest of months here...

Happy New Year 2011!

Happy New Year everyone! I'm going to let Po the Panda kick off the this "year of awesomeness".  Here's to new and great movies this year!  Let's get started.




The new TV spot for Kung Fu Panda 2: The Kaboom of Doom releasing this May 2011.

New Movie Posters - Animation Edition

Don't mess with the Po-Po!!!

More posters from Kung Fu Panda 2, Megamind, The Illusionist, Tangled and Rio after the cut...

It's Teaser Trailer time!!

Po is back, that lovable panda is back with the first teaser trailer for Kung Fu Panda 2: Kaboom of Doom!  Don't take your eyes off this one!



While here we have Kevin James as The Zookeeper in the new summer comedy from Columbia Pictures. I've narrowed it down already, I'm guessing like Night at the Museum except it's really just a zoo. Way to fool the audience!



What do you think of the teaser trailers? Excited for the summer 2011 already?