9 Disappoints

Even though the animation is spectacular

BY COLIN ENQUIST

9 is a beautiful looking animated film based off of a short film of the same title. Shane Acker, who created the short as well, directs the full length film. Producing the film are two high end directors themselves, Tim Burton and Timur Bekmambetov. The voice cast consists of Elijah Wood, John C. Reilly, Jennifer Connelly, Crispin Glover, Martin Landau and Christopher Plummer.

The story commences with an awakening. 9 (Wood) is born. At this point in time we do not know how, we just know that a scientist has created the rag doll-like “stitchpunk”. 9 has begun to explore the apocalyptic world around him, where he meets up with another stitchpunk, like himself. Soon we become introduced to a few more stitchpunks, learning everything about the world as 9 does. 9 helps rescue a fellow digit, 2 (Landau), but in the process create a new evil set to destroy his new set of friends.

An evil mechanical creature is set to destroy them. Why? Who knows, the audience sure doesn’t. I am under the assumption it is to destroy anything living (or maybe moving?). As the mechanical monster creates his army we are entitled to some very creepy looking machines. Some will be haunting my dreams for weeks to come.

The story is there, right in front of you, but it is confusing. We are meant to figure out what the next logical step is at the same moment as 9 but when he figures it out, you can fathom how he came to that conclusion. It’s like the director laid all the significant pieces on the floor and took some away just to confuse whoever looks at it.

So the story was slightly average, the voice cast was forgettable and it threw some good scares, making it an animated film you won’t want to bring young children to see. Well I can at least say the animation of this film is as good as it gets. From the opening sequence to the closing credits I can not tell you how much I enjoyed looking at what the animators did for this film. Every detail is exquisitely put into each character. The bar has been raised on animated films because of 9.

I do not recommend watching this, unless you enjoy confusing films that never make sense. If you really enjoy animated films that use state of the art technology then it might be worth a view once 9 hits DVD. Hopefully we get more films like this one even though Acker’s debut film was not the greatest; you can tell he has a great eye that will help his bright future.

2 out of 5

Short Film of the Month: 9 (September 2009)

Acker's short film 9 lost the Oscar, but gained a fan in Hollywood heavyweight Tim Burton

Director: Shane Acker
Writer: Shane Acker
Distributor: UCLA's Animation Workshop
Year of Release: 2005
Running Time: 10:39

Synopsis: Shane Acker's Oscar-nominated computer animated short film tells the story of a sentient rag doll called '9', who is the last of his breed in a parallel world that is absent of humankind. In fact, the only other visible entity is a relentless mechanical monster known as "the Cat Beast," which had already killed the first eight of the rag doll species, and is set on taking down '9' and its soul. This voiceless (music by Eric Olsen) short caught the attention of Tim Burton and Focus Features, who extended the story into a $33 million feature film that hits theatres today.

Rapid Fire SDCC News: Part I

Little news, big news and fantastic news!!!


This is only some of the news from the start of San Diego Comic-Con. Really this is the stuff that caught my eye and I felt was worth a quick post. More news to come as SDCC continues!!!

- Posters for The Cabin in the Woods. Great posters laughing at horror films.

- First footage of Kick-Ass was screened and the crowd was impressed.

- Tim Burton announced his next film will star Johnny Depp (shocker!!!) and is based off the 60s spooky soap opera Dark Shadows.


- Milla Jovovich will reprise her role in another Resident Evil film titled Resident Evil: Afterlife. It is being shot in 3D and could be the start of another trilogy. The budget will be the bigger than any of the previous films.


- The Losers poster was released, check below.




- No word if Gore Verbinski will return to direct, but a Pirates of the Caribbean is going to start shooting soon with the hope of a early 2011 release. Captain Jack (Johnny Depp) will be back! The producers want to scale down the movie but still plan on making it into another trilogy.


- Sounds like Wanted 2 is officially a go. The Timur Bekmambetov sequel could be starting pre-production in about 8-10 weeks. James McAvoy will be back as Wesley Gibson.


- Last year at SDCC, the surprise of the show was the announcement of Tron 2 with a rough trailer. This year we get a full clip with the official name, Tron Legacy which is to be released in 2010. Here is the clip below.

- The biggest news (which has been partially back tracked) was by Gary Oldman. During a panel for the Hughes Brothers new film The Book of Eli, Oldman answered a question about when the sequel to The Dark Knight would begin shooting. Shockingly he responded "We start shooting next year. You didn't hear that from me." Since that time, in an interview with Quint from Ain't It Cool News Oldman said "well, I'm sure they want to do another one... it might 2 or 3 years..." This could mean he was telling a lie or the studios gave him an earful for dropping the news.

Really excited if the last news bit is true! Tron looks awesome! What of the news has you most excited?

SiM Poster: Alice in Wonderland

144-year-old story gets modern-day Tim Burton twist

Directed and co-produced by the one-and-only Tim Burton (The Nightmare Before Christmas), the latest Alice in Wonderland epic reunites the legendary filmmaker with star Johnny Depp (Public Enemies) for the seventh time in their careers (Edward Scissorhands, Ed Wood, Sleepy Hollow, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Corpse Bride, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street). Depp will star as the Mad Hatter in the iconic Charles Lutwidge Dodgson tale, which also features Mia Wasikowska (Amelia) as Alice, Helena Bonham Carter (Merlin) as the Red Queen, Anne Hathaway (Get Smart) as the White Queen, Michael Sheen (New Moon) as the White Rabbit, Alan Rickman (Die Hard) as the Caterpillar, and Stephen Fry (V for Vendetta) as the Cheshire Cat. The Walt Disney feature hits theatres March 5, 2010.

SiM Pics: Alice in Wonderland

Burton is going to scare the crap out of some people with this film!

When you hear what the next Tim Burton film will be, you usually wonder how his unique vision will be portrayed onto the screen. Planet of the Apes ventured from his usual approach but he came back to his old way of doing things for his next few films. So when it was announced that Burton would do the remake of Alice in Wonderland, everyone knew Burton was the right choice. He does not disappoint with these first set of photos. The 3 pictures below are Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter, Helena Bonham Carter as the Red Queen and Anne Hathaway as the White Queen. Here is a link to some more photos that also look fantastic (USA Today).

SiM Trailer: 9

Director: Shane Acker (The Hangnail)
Writers: Shane Acker (The Astounding Talents of Mr. Grenade), Pamela Pettler (Corpse Bride)
Cast: Elijah Wood (Sin City), John C. Reilly (Step Brothers), Jennifer Connelly (A Beautiful Mind), Crispin Glover (Beowulf), Martin Landau (City of Ember), Christopher Plummer (Up), Fred Tatasciore (Bolt)
Distributors: Focus Features
Release Date: September 9, 2009 (9.9.09)

Synopsis: 9 is a feature adaptation of director-writer Shane Acker's 2005, Oscar-nominated animated short film of the same name, set in a world parallel to ours, one that is facing extinction of humanity. Co-produced by Tim Burton (The Nightmare Before Christmas), the computer-animated flick follows a rag doll-like creature named 9 (Wood), who is perhaps the last of his kind in his dark and violent world.

3-D Films Galore

"Alice" coming to IMAX in 3-D along with many other films over the next few years.

Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures and IMAX Corporation jointly announced that the new Tim Burton film, Alice in Wonderland, starring Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter, Anne Hathaway as the White Queen and Mia Wasikowska as Alice, will be released to IMAX theaters simultaneously with the film's wide release on March 5, 2010. The special IMAX 3-D release will be digitally re-mastered into the unparalleled image and sound quality of The IMAX Experience. This is the third film confirmed out of the five-film agreement between IMAX and Disney, which was announced on November 19, 2008.

Mark Zoradi, president, Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures Group, spoke fondly of the idea of "Alice" in 3-D, "If ever there was a film that cried out to be presented in Disney Digital 3-D and the premium IMAX 3-D format, Tim Burton's fantastic interpretation of 'Alice in Wonderland' is that film. This is going to be an eye-popping cinematic experience as Tim takes moviegoers down the rabbit hole and into the dimensional world filled with incredible characters, sly humor, and wild adventures. Disney's partnership with IMAX is taking shape with two amazing films already on the schedule. We look forward to working with them in bringing exciting new experiences and quality entertainment to IMAX screens around the world."

"We think that Disney's new 'Alice in Wonderland' is exactly the type of 3-D story telling that will resonate with IMAX audiences," said IMAX Co-Chairmen and Co-CEOs Richard L. Gelfond and Bradley J. Wechsler. "We believe our worldwide commercial theatre network will be approximately 50 percent larger by the time this film is released, giving more and more people a chance to experience the magic of Disney in IMAX."

"'Alice in Wonderland' is a fantastic addition to our 2010 film slate," added Greg Foster, Chairman and President of IMAX Filmed Entertainment. "Combining a beloved Disney classic re-designed through the imagination of Tim Burton's creative vision with these incredibly outrageous characters and world class actors certainly makes for an event-status film, and we're pleased to add another level of excitement to this highly-anticipated movie. "Visionary filmmaker Tim Burton will put his distinctive touch on the combination live-action and performance capture version of Lewis Carroll's classic tale "Alice in Wonderland." The all-star cast includes Johnny Depp, Anne Hathaway, Helena Bonham Carter, Crispin Glover, Alan Rickman and Mia Wasikowska as Alice.

Walt Disney Studios announced that they are now releasing the 3-D versions of Toy Story and Toy Story 2 together on October 2nd. The double feature will be the first place you'll be able to see the trailer for Toy Story 3 and the only place to see it in 3-D. No word yet if double feature means one movie ticket for both films or if the films will also be released in non-3-D theatres as well.

Disney also announced the 3-D version of Beauty and the Beast (of which the studio showed the opening musical number "Belle" in 3-D at ShoWest) is going to be released on February 12, 2010.

Avatar, the James Cameron brainchild is set to debut in 3-D December 18, 2009. Cameron has had the film in development for about 14 years, in 1995 he wrote a 80-page scriptment for Avatar. It should set the stage for 3-D films and more than likely raise the bar higher then ever thought possible by most viewers. Avatar tells the story of an ex-Marine, thrust unwillingly into an effort to settle and exploit an exotic planet rich in bio-diversity, who eventually crosses over to lead the indigenous race in a battle for survival. The film stars Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver, Michelle Rodriguez and Giovanni Ribisi.

With many other films coming down the pipeline with a 3-D release. This could be the new wave of cinema or it could just be a flash in the pan if the first few films don't impress movie goers.