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

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14 hours ago, tribefan695 said:

They both lost, though. They're usually an also ran but have yet to break out on top and this trailer is a good reminder why to me

Wait, are you trying to say that, for an animated movie to have 'universal critical appeal' they have to win the Animated Oscar? It's a fairly meaningless award that I tend to find very rarely truly represents the best animated movies of the year. Unless you're seriously trying to argue Brave has that 'universal critical appeal' these movies lack?

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2 hours ago, tribefan695 said:

I'm sort of conflating overall critical and personal opinion. I know what problems I see in their films and am assuming the Academy does too

 

But see, there's actually four different viewpoints going on there.

 

You've got your own personal opinion.

Then there's the critical consensus.

Then there's the animation branch.

Then there's the academy as a whole.

 

And all four of those are going to view a film very differently.

 

LAIKA has tended to produce somewhat off kilter films. They go for a sense of strangeness and horror that other animation companies don't, even Aardman, which is their nearest competitor. The heartfelt angst that typifies Pixar's films isn't going to work for LAIKA. They want an element of weird, which the stop motion focus plays into in a way that wouldn't work for CGI.

 

Sometimes they might stray far, which produces more divisive opinions from fans and critics, as we saw in The Boxtrolls. But trying to reign it in would probably deliver a staid and boring product. Even in that case, reviews were generally favorable.

 

The animation branch is probably always going to favor them. Stop motion is notoriously difficult and time consuming for one. But their decision to tell stories differently than the top of the line probably also plays into it. The fact that they're probably never going to WIN the Oscar doesn't matter so much, because that's down to strict popularity, and LAIKA's a minor studio that isn't going to play worldwide like that.

 

I'd argue that among all the Oscars, the nomination is more important than the win for feature animation.

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I don't really care whether they're considered a serious contender for anything, or if they have universal appeal -- they tell different sorts of stories than the usual mega-conglomerates (Pixar, Disney, Dreamworks), and for me that's enough to consider them a valuable addition to the world of animation. Essentially, for me they're like Aardman, but where Aardman tends to skew gentle and with a distinct British look at things, Laika tends to go a little darker (in the traditional fairytale sense). Even when they don't hit a home run (BOX TROLLS), I find a lot to admire.

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4 minutes ago, Telemachos said:

I don't really care whether they're considered a serious contender for anything, or if they have universal appeal -- they tell different sorts of stories than the usual mega-conglomerates (Pixar, Disney, Dreamworks), and for me that's enough to consider them a valuable addition to the world of animation. Essentially, for me they're like Aardman, but where Aardman tends to skew gentle and with a distinct British look at things, Laika tends to go a little darker (in the traditional fairytale sense). Even when they don't hit a home run (BOX TROLLS), I find a lot to admire.

 

Box Trolls was still at least a double. Even if the story didn't quite gel it had enough interesting choices to make it compelling. And the technical side was absolutely amazing.

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I'm being pedantic but they consistently have average ratings worse than Disney's films. The sense I get is fans of Laika want them to come out on top at some point, but I think their weaker characters is what keeps them down and it's something I wish they would put more consideration into. Heck, it might even help commercially as well.

I know for sure this new trailer reminded me of why I've never really been able to get into their films and it lessened my hype for this one

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3 minutes ago, tribefan695 said:

The sense I get is fans of Laika want them to come out on top at some point...

 

No, I definitely don't care about that. Mass-market entertainment will always trump quirkier indie stuff for most people, and that's fine -- and of course Disney and Pixar do plenty of quality movies, I'm not really trying to knock them. I just want Laika to have the ability to keep making movies that get a wide release. More variety of storytelling is always for the best, IMO.

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Aardman and Laika are like chalk and cheese in terms of storytelling. Laika is more weird and slightly darker which is more like the Selick and Burton stop motion films, Aardman tends to be more comedic and whimsical, Aardman likely wouldn't make something like Coraline in the same way Laika wouldn't make something like Shaun the Sheep. 

 

 

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1 hour ago, tribefan695 said:

I'm being pedantic but they consistently have average ratings worse than Disney's films.

As ridiculous as it is to quibble over RT scores, I can't help but note Coraline has a higher average critics rating than every recent animated Disney movie (minus Zootopia). So you're not so much being pedantic as... incorrect.

 

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The sense I get is fans of Laika want them to come out on top at some point,

Not really. I can think of much more deserving minor animation studios. To be honest, I'm more just bemused you so insistently claim they're currently on bottom. Boxtrolls and your own personal opinion aside, their films have been pretty damn well received.

 

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but I think their weaker characters is what keeps them down and it's something I wish they would put more consideration into. Heck, it might even help commercially as well.

Okay, even if for a moment I accept this premise that Laika's characterisation is weaker than other studios, so what? There's more to a movie than simply characterisation. Laika is all about its dark style and picks stories and characters that best compliment that style (which is partly why I think Boxtrolls failed somewhat, since it leaned more (albeit not entirely) towards traditional family friendly content.) That's why their films (or at least Coraline and Paranorman) work for me. Certainly it's understandable if the style doesn't gel with you as well as it might do others, but that doesn't necessarily make the films bad or worse than Disney or whoever.

 

 

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1 hour ago, tribefan695 said:

I'm being pedantic but they consistently have average ratings worse than Disney's films.

As ridiculous as it is to quibble over RT scores, I can't help but note Coraline has a higher average critics rating than every recent animated Disney movie (minus Zootopia). So you're not so much being pedantic as... incorrect.

 

Quote

The sense I get is fans of Laika want them to come out on top at some point,

Not really. I can think of much more deserving minor animation studios. To be honest, I'm more just bemused you so insistently claim they're currently on bottom. Boxtrolls and your own personal opinion aside, their films have been pretty damn well received.

 

Quote

but I think their weaker characters is what keeps them down and it's something I wish they would put more consideration into. Heck, it might even help commercially as well.

Okay, even if for a moment I accept this premise that Laika's characterisation is weaker than other studios, so what? There's more to a movie than simply characterisation. Laika is all about its dark style and picks stories and characters that best compliment that style (which is partly why I think Boxtrolls failed somewhat, since it leaned more (albeit not entirely) towards traditional family friendly content.) That's why their films (or at least Coraline and Paranorman) work for me. Certainly it's understandable if the style doesn't gel with you as well as it might do others, but that doesn't necessarily make the films bad or worse than Disney or whoever.

 

 

Fine, if you want to get right down to it, "universal" = "including me"

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