Kubo & The Two Strings | 8/19/16 | LAIKA | Early Reviews are Very Positive

[Morieris]

12 minutes ago, tribefan695 said:

Also, this movie's opening proves that the film you attach your teaser trailer to doesn't mean jack-squat

 

I saw this in front of every movie I've seen this year short of Jungle Book and Ninja Turtles to clearly not much avail. 

[Jonwo]

39 minutes ago, tribefan695 said:

Really hope they don't go the way of Ghibli. There's only so far artistic appreciation can take you, unfortunately. At some point they're going to have to sell more tickets

 

If Aardman can still around after 40 years then Laika with Nike money will easily survive. 

[shayhiri]

45 minutes ago, The Panda said:

 

True.  If they're only losing a few million on it per film, and all the guy cares about is making the art, then there's no reason he can't keep it going.  It's just like any normal hobby, it sinks a percentage of your personal income, but because you love doing it, it's worth it.

 

I make a pretty great living, writing the stories I love.

[MovieMan89]

Yeah, the trailer attachment rate to movies was crazy for me, starting back with my TFA screening and never really letting up. They certainly tried at least. 

[WrathOfHan]

I got a short trailer with Star Trek but that's it

[goldenstate5]

 

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Sorry I'm trying to process the fact that this has been out for nearly a week now and has only made $13 million.

 

Because this is a crime against this beautiful, heartwrenching masterpiece that Laika has gifted upon the world. The 3D is spectacular, the stop motion animation is jaw-dropping and the story is rich, the dialogue witty and smart and the ending will make you drown the theater in tears. That's quite an accomplishment knowing you'll be the only one in there, because for some horrible, terribly sad reason nobody is going to see this.

 

And while I'm confident it will gain an audience over the years on home video (it's simply too good not to), it's a shame so many will not have seen it in its glorious 3D, which whisks you away like filmmaking is intended to. It will not last in theaters long, and if you have any wish to see this film, see it NOW. Go to a late show, and support Laika and this film that is destined to be a cult classic legend.

 

10/10

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(fuck that Louis CK dog)

[Gopher]

It's as gorgeous a use of animation I've ever seen. Meta (stop motion story about a boy creating a stop motion story), thematic (the people we have lost will come back to life through what we choose to construct and believe in) and just drop-dead gorgeous. I cried in the opening few scenes and in the last few. I was moved with the wonder and scope of each frame. 

 

Now, the storytelling.. Laika has this tendency to overstuff their narratives, making them very objective-heavy and video game-esque. Coraline does it, Paranorman does it, and Kubo is as big an offender as any. I think the story is perfectly in line with the themes of the film, but it's lacking the simplicity of the film's animation and emotion. The different pieces and metaphors and objectives needed streamlining. 

 

Also, gotta be honest, was curious that very few Asian artists actually seemed to work on this film. I noticed a George Takai voice cameo, an Asian 'consultant' on the film's story, and.. that's it. There's nothing wrong with homaging a culture, it's another to Americanize the representation of that culture, whether it's through voice casting or the construction of these puppets themselves.

[goldenstate5]

Interesting that you should mention that Gopher, as I felt like this was a swifter and cleaner take on the wonderous but often plodding middle act of Coraline. Narrowing it down to three items and making the scenes full of thematically rich heft combined with unique action set pieces (and moving the story along at a good pace). I think it was as streamlined as it needed to be.

 

As for the appropriation, well... I'm not sure what I can say here but it certainly felt respectful to the Japanese culture that it was representing, combining some other mythological Asian traits. The white-washing itself is a prickly topic that's hard to navigate. For an animated film, I believe voices themselves are what matter most, and the actors deliver that performance. Yet I understand authenticness is important to especially those who feel represented by the film, and I really don't know what to say. It's a difficult topic without an easy answer when it comes to an animated film. (live-action is totally different)

 

Regardless of controversey, it stills deserves all of the praise it can get.

[AniNate]

I feel similarly here to how I did with Wes Anderson and The Grand Budapest Hotel. Yeah, things I would normally criticize are there but they're all done with much more of a charm and confidence that they feel like things that shouldn't be changed. Seemed like the movie Laika had been building up to (and they were if WOG is to be believed) 

Edited August 24, 2016 by tribefan695

[Ezen Baklattan]

5 hours ago, Gopher said:

Also, gotta be honest, was curious that very few Asian artists actually seemed to work on this film. I noticed a George Takai voice cameo, an Asian 'consultant' on the film's story, and.. that's it. There's nothing wrong with homaging a culture, it's another to Americanize the representation of that culture, whether it's through voice casting or the construction of these puppets themselves.

 

I'll be seeing it tonight (possibly, but I'm very excited about it) but yeah, I noticed that too, particularly the mainly white cast of the main characters. (It's far from problematic as, say, Gods of Egypt and Pan, since you still see people of color on the screen a la most Ghibli dubs that use mainly white casts for English dubs, but it's still an issue in blocking out actors of color)

 

I'm interested in seeing what Japanese bloggers and artists think of it, but from what I've seen, it seems generally positive so far, even when calling out the mainly white cast.

 

 

[Murgatroyd]

16 hours ago, tribefan695 said:

Really hope they don't go the way of Ghibli. There's only so far artistic appreciation can take you, unfortunately. At some point they're going to have to sell more tickets

 

"You're right, I did lose a million dollars last year. I expect to lose a million dollars this year. I expect to lose a million dollars next year. You know, Mr. Thatcher, at the rate of a million dollars a year, I'll have to close this place in... 60 years. " -Charles Foster Kane.

[MovieMan89]

This could be the showpiece in a cinema as art discussion. Visuals on a whole new plateau for the medium. The story was powerful and poignant at its core, however some of the dialouge, character interactions, and tonal shifts in the middle felt a bit too conventional in a fairly unconventional film, and therefore out of place. Not bad though, just a bit jarring bookended by the first and third acts. The box office is tragic, but at the same time I can admit it's not really for kids under 11 or so, so it's not like there's no explanation for why it wouldn't do well. It should win everything as far as awards go. Zootopia is more finely tuned and perfected overall, but not of the level of visual or narrative artistic achievement as this. One of the best films of the decade so far, even with the flaws.

 

Also the credit sequence set to that truly sublime rendition of While My Guitar Gently Weeps will go down as an all time favorite in credits for me. That alone is deserving of tons of awards.  

Edited August 24, 2016 by MovieMan89

[shayhiri]

16 hours ago, goldenstate5 said:

Because this is a crime against this beautiful, heartwrenching masterpiece that Laika has gifted upon the world. The 3D is spectacular, the stop motion animation is jaw-dropping and the story is rich, the dialogue witty and smart and the ending will make you drown the theater in tears. That's quite an accomplishment knowing you'll be the only one in there, because for some horrible, terribly sad reason nobody is going to see this.

 

And while I'm confident it will gain an audience over the years on home video (it's simply too good not to), it's a shame so many will not have seen it in its glorious 3D, which whisks you away like filmmaking is intended to. It will not last in theaters long, and if you have any wish to see this film, see it NOW. Go to a late show, and support Laika and this film that is destined to be a cult classic legend.

 

10/10

 

Hear, hear!!

 

The animated industry is finally getting rid of Pixar's oppression!

[cannastop]

Just now, shayhiri said:

 

Hear, hear!!

 

The animated industry is finally getting rid of Pixar's oppression!

Finding Dory says lol. $480m dom is nothing to sneeze at.

[shayhiri]

What the Shay clearly meant is , even hardcore Pixar aficionados like goldenstate are finding new meaning elsewhere.

[RyneOh1040]

Saw this last night.  Hands down, far and away, my favorite film of the year so far.    

[JohnnyGossamer]

Where have you been, Shay? Laika's always been legit. From Coraline to ParaNorman and, hell, Boxtrolls is undervalued in my view too.

[shayhiri]

28 minutes ago, JohnnyGossamer said:

Where have you been, Shay?

 

Lately: to a strip club.

 

I'm equally unimpressed by all three Nike Junior movies so far - but Kubo looks SO right up Shay's alley that it will be hard for them to botch it up. And since my taste in movies often proverbially differs from the mass NA taste - no wonder Kubo is struggling.

Edited August 25, 2016 by shayhiri

[Ezen Baklattan]

Saw this tonight. Mild spoilers below.

 

Spoiler

I adored this. I don't need to remind all of you how amazing the visuals are, but I feel like the more straight forward, objective oriented story works better than it should here, especially as it mirrors the story Kubo tells at the beginning of the film. It takes Joseph Campbell's Hero's Journey structure (which, admittedly, feels tired) and finds an ethos in it that makes Kubo's journey far more meaningful than just defeating a doomsday villain, and provides an ending of hope, even without true perfection. It runs with the idea of the Hero's Journey as a cultural touchstone (however problematic) and finds the heart to it.

 

This is about cherishing memories, building stories, and embracing those you share your story with. Amazing.

 

[Blankments]

Yeah this was probably ,my personal disappointment of the summer. Outside of the visuals and action, I found it to be pretty mediocre (mostly thanks to the AWFUL dialogue) and one vocal performance kinda offended me in a way that's hard to describe without derailing the thread for a discussion on "Can white people voice Asian characters?" 

 

Very good third act though

Edited August 25, 2016 by Blankments