Citizen Rules...Cinemaesque Chat-n-Review

Registered User

01-22-17

Originally Posted by Citizen Rules

Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988)

Director: Robert Zemeckis
Writers: Gary K. Wolf(novel), Jeffrey Price(screenplay)
Cast: Bob Hoskins, Christopher Lloyd, Joanna Cassidy
Genre: Animation-Live Action, Adventure, Comedy

About: A down and out, toon-hating, boozen detective, Eddie Valiant (Bob Hoskins) is Roger Rabbit's (voice by Charles Fleischer) only hope of beating a framed-up murder rap. The suspects include Roger Rabbit's voluminous & voluptuous wife, Jessica Rabbit (voice by Kathleen Turner). Into the mix comes the mysterious and dangerous Judge Doom (Christopher Lloyd) who takes a twisted pleasure in dipping toons in a deadly toxic solution.

Review: Who Framed Roger Rabbit is the most innovative animated movie ever made. At the time it was made, 1988 it was the most expensive movie ever made...and one of the longest to make...taking 7months for principal photography(filming of live actors), another month of blue screen work, and an excruciating 14 months in post production to do the complicated animation work.

Unlike previous attempt at live action intermixed with animation, this movie went to great lengths to teach the live actors how to do pantomime so that when a human picks up a toon, it looks like he's lifting weight and not just air.

Many of the live props in the hands of the toons were shot with robotic controlled arms, then latter the animation was layered over top of it. A prime example of that is Baby Herman and his real cigar.

To make it so that the humans had eye contact with the toons, an initial blocking scene was filmed with rubber dolls for the toons. Then they eye path could be checked and corrected so that humans and toons look like they are really interacting. And it works! It's easy to believe what you're seeing is true.

Bob Hoskins was the perfect choice for detective Eddie Valant, he looked the part and his annoyance at the outrageous Roger Rabbit made the movie all the more humorous.

A big shout out, to Joanna Cassidy and Christopher Lloyd, both who helped make the movie a truly fine film.

I enjoyed the Film Noir, circa 1947 Hollywood meets Disney and Looney Tunes. it's totally cool to a film buff to see Jessica Rabbit patterned in the style of Rita Hayworth (Mrs. Orson) and sporting a Veronica Lake peek-a-boo hair do. Even more fun was seeing all the old cartoon characters from Disney and Warner Bros. together on the big screen. And just as important drawn in the original style of the 1940s...and voiced by many of the original vocal artist including legendary Mel Blanc.

I really enjoyed this, it was well done, entertaining, fun, with great sets and lots of neat movie related stuff in the background.

You know, I bought that movie on VHS years ago and never watched it. It's still in a box of my old stuff.

cricket

Registered User

01-22-17

I haven't seen that in years. I remember liking it but not much else. Bob Hoskins was a great actor.

Citizen Rules

Noir Time

01-22-17

Now that you're a film buff you should check it out again. It was amazing all the references I spotted to older movies, like the Maltese falcon statue in the office of the detective. I'm sure I missed way more than I seen.

Captain Steel

"Lois, I never lie."

01-22-17

Oh my! Now there's a favorite.
Yes, mixing live action with animation was old hat, but had never been done in such a way or on such a scale before.

I think most people don't realize all the "nods" and references in Roger Rabbit to other things (such as other films & movie genres as you pointed out as well as real film & animation history, and various media).

This was kind of a fantasy fulfilled for me because when I was little I would imagine that all the cartoon characters were real (they had real lives like real movie stars) they intermingled (despite who owned the rights to them), and all lived in a place kind of like Hollywood! I've met some people who feel the film is low-brow, kiddie entertainment, but to me, it's an artistic masterpiece.

My favorite line: when Roger & Eddie are handcuffed together and Eddie is desperately trying to cut through the handcuffs - Roger effortlessly slips out of them to help Eddie hold them down while he saws. Eddie stops and says, "You mean to tell me you could've gotten out of those at any time?" Roger replies, "No, not at ANY time... only when it was funny!"

Citizen Rules

Noir Time

01-22-17

Originally Posted by Roy C.

You know, I bought that movie on VHS years ago and never watched it. It's still in a box of my old stuff.

I heard the VHS tape has a quick 2 frame scene where Jessica's dress blows up, and you can see she has no underwear on

...I swear that's true

Citizen Rules

Noir Time

01-23-17

Oh my! Now there's a favorite.
Yes, mixing live action with animation was old hat, but had never been done in such a way or on such a scale before.

That's so true...and I wouldn't have known that, but I watched the DVD extras and they interviewed the director, animators and actors and talked in great length on how they made the movie, very impresive.

Now, I need to see it again! so I can appreciate all the work that went into it.

I think most people don't realize all the "nods" and references in Roger Rabbit to other things (such as other films & movie genres as you pointed out as well as real film & animation history, and various media).

I want to rewatch it just for that reason, maybe with the commentary track, that would be fun.

This was kind of a fantasy fulfilled for me because when I was little I would imagine that all the cartoon characters were real (they had real lives like real movie stars) they intermingled (despite who owned the rights to them), and all lived in a place kind of like Hollywood! I've met some people who feel the film is low-brow, kiddie entertainment, but to me, it's an artistic masterpiece.

You were an imaginative child! One of the animators said something about the animation mind, that reminded me of you when I watched it (I know you've done animation drawings in the past).

My favorite line: when Roger & Eddie are handcuffed together and Eddie is desperately trying to cut through the handcuffs - Roger effortlessly slips out of them to help Eddie hold them down while he saws. Eddie stops and says, "You mean to tell me you could've gotten out of those at any time?" Roger replies, "No, not at ANY time... only when it was funny!"

Loved that line.

Roy C.

Registered User

01-23-17

Originally Posted by Citizen Rules

I heard the VHS tape has a quick 2 frame scene where Jessica's dress blows up, and you can see she has no underwear on

...I swear that's true

I hope that's true

gbgoodies

You can't make a rainbow without a little rain.

01-23-17

Originally Posted by Citizen Rules

Nothing else to say here, if you want to see a good though provoking sci fi by Mike Cahill, watch his Another Earth.

Another Earth was a pretty good movie, but until the last few minutes of the movie, the sci-fi storyline about the second planet seemed completely irrelevant to the movie.

__________________
.
If I answer a game thread correctly, just skip my turn and continue with the game.
OPEN FLOOR.

Chypmunk

Registered User

01-23-17

You were right - I have seen that one too. Can't honestly say I remember too much of it outside of remembering it as being quite fun and thinking Freud would probably have had a field day with much of the male audience

Gideon58

Registered User

01-23-17

Originally Posted by Citizen Rules

Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988)

[font=Arial Narrow]Director: Robert Zemeckis
Writers: Gary K. Wolf(novel), Jeffrey Price(screenplay)
Cast: Bob Hoskins, Christopher Lloyd, Joanna Cassidy
Genre: Animation-Live Action, Adventure, Comedy

Can't believe you're just now seeing this for the first time...this movie is awesome...I think Robert Zemeckis was robbed of a directing nomination...gave it the same rating you did.

Camo

BANNED

01-23-17

Great Roger Rabbit review

. I'm never quite sure what i think of it; as a kid i didn't like it much, in my early teens i liked it alot then in my late teens i thought it was pretty good but didn't like it as much. The most recent time i watched it i liked it more than usual but that was at least partially because it was the only movie commentary i did on this site; there was about eight of us and we kept straying into random topics, it was pretty funny. So yeah i at least enjoy it but i'm not sure how much.

Citizen Rules

Noir Time

01-23-17

Originally Posted by Gideon58

Can't believe you're just now seeing this for the first time...this movie is awesome...I think Robert Zemeckis was robbed of a directing nomination...gave it the same rating you did.

There's a ton of well known, popular movies that I've never seen. But I had seen Who Framed Roger Rabbit before...but like a million years ago. I didn't remember a thing about it, so in a way it was like a first watch. I'll have to see it again sometime. Yup Zemeckis deserved an Oscar for his effort.

Citizen Rules

Noir Time

01-24-17

Equals (2015)

Director: Drake Doremus
Writers: Drake Doremus(story), Nathan Parker(screenplay)
Cast: Nicholas Hoult, Kristen Stewart, Vernetta Lopez
Genre: Drama, Romance, Sci-Fi
PG-13 1h 41min

About: Sometime in Earth's distant future, emotions have been eliminated and all people live and work as equals. As a result love, relationships and sex are banned. But not everything goes according to plan. There's an epidemic of Switched On Syndrome (S.O.S)...which causes the person to experience uncontrolled emotions. Suffers can be treated but there's no cure, Ultimately they are euthanized when they reach stage 4 of the 'disease'.

Two workers at a high tech company, both have S.O.S and fall in love, then start an illicit affair that puts their lives into danger.

Review: A sci-fi movie that's driven by classic sci fi ideas, while being an introspective romance story. But don't think romance means touchy-feely or overly sentimental, in fact it's a very despondent movie that's more somber and reflective, than emotional. I liked it!

Think of this in the vein of THX 1138 (1971) and you'll know what to expect. It's not a big budget film, there's no big CG scenes, no real excitement or adventure...and Tom Cruise is no where to be seen

It does have Nicholas Hoult who plays the futuristic, calm and collective human to a tee. He's a big part of the movie, the other equation is Kristen Stewart who plays a woman with a troubling secret. I liked both of them together.

The film has a beautiful pale blue color tone in most of the shots, which sets the mood well.

Attachments

Click image for larger version

Name: Equals (1).jpg
Views: 683
Size: 171.0 KB
ID: 28608

Click image for larger version

Name: Equals (2).PNG
Views: 439
Size: 131.7 KB
ID: 28609

Roy C.

Registered User

01-25-17

Have you ever seen the film "The Third Man"? If so, what are your thoughts on it?

Citizen Rules

Noir Time

01-25-17

Originally Posted by Roy C.

Have you ever seen the film "The Third Man"? If so, what are your thoughts on it?

Yup, I've seen a couple of times. IMO an awesome film noir with an annoying music score

My review of The Third Man

CosmicRunaway

Winner by Default

01-25-17

Originally Posted by Citizen Rules

So is Kristen Stewart actually a good actor in this film? I was sort of interested until I saw her name.

__________________

A Strange Variety of Film Reviews | The New Flesh: A David Cronenberg Club
Letterboxd

Roy C.

Registered User

01-25-17

Originally Posted by Citizen Rules

Yup, I've seen a couple of times. IMO an awesome film noir with an annoying music score

My review of The Third Man

Nice review. It looks interesting and it's so highly acclaimed that I really want to see it! But I can't find the movie anywhere, for cheap that is. The only ones of a decent price are UK versions which aren't playable on my DVD player. The only other is the Criterion Collection disc, but it's nearly $45 dollars!

Citizen Rules