screen |skr_n| |skrin| |skri_n| noun • a blank, typically white or silver surface on which a photographic image is projected : the world's largest movie screen • movies or television; the motion-picture industry : she's a star of the stage as well as the screen. verb [ trans. ] • protect (someone) from something dangerous or unpleasant • evaluate or analyze (something) for its suitability for a particular purpose or application


Friday, March 04, 2011

Rango

I’m not sure who will see this unusual and affecting movie. It almost seems pointless to say these days, because most animated movies continue to amaze me, (Me, the guy who grew up watching Scooby Doo…) but the animation is awesome. The majestic lighting, the expressive faces of the characters and the lopsided camera angles are a sensory feat. But there’s also an outlaw sensibility here; a different way to skin a cat -- a cerebral one. Hunter S. Thompson, spaghetti western and Chinatown references seem much more geared toward film-literate adults than kids or families. It’s a miracle this even got green-lit except that Gore Verbinsky has made a LOT of money for a LOT of people. How is it that this script didn’t get bogged down in studio story notes?? There’s barely any internal logic, even for animation. (Some birds talk, but others are for riding horseback?) It's scary. It's dark. It’s existential. It’s about finding meaning in your life. Who wants that from their family animation? But I LAUGHED -- more than I’ve laughed at most comedies. More than I laughed during Black Swan. And that’s really saying something, because I loved Black Swan and I thought it was hysterical. So, I’m not sure how they’re going to market this movie, and I’m not sure who’s going to see it, but it’s not really my job to worry about those things, is it? I just know that it made my cranky soul cackle, in spite of myself, with bemused joy.

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