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Sunny



Ok, I’m gonna list my favourite Hollywood (shall do Bollywood later) movies within different genres in this and a few more posts which will come later. Starting off with my favourite..animations :) . Boys will boys eh?

10. A Bug’s Life– Fantastic take on one of Aesop’s fables..The Ant and the Grasshopper. A beautiful tale of poor ants taking on the villainous grasshoppers with the help of ‘warrior bugs’..circus freaks actually :)   Tuck and Roll (the pill bugs) make you laugh everytime they argue and fight with each other in some bizarre language. Francis the ladybug is exceedingly charming. Of all the other supporting characaters, Dot is very loveable as the baby princess, and Molt is roof shatteringly funny as the brother of THE bad guy..Hopper. Kevin Spacey uses his voice beautifully to express the arrogance and menace of Hopper. Dave Foley also lends credibility to the character of Flik with his voice. Top class animation, plenty of hilarious sequences, loveable characters, and a very uplifting and heart-warming story make this one of my all time favourite animated films.

9. Aladdin– We all have heard this story about a zillion times, so no surprises there. The animation, though excellent for it’s time, doesn’t hold up well if you compare it to recent films, but there was something in this movie which was very very! charming. You know what that was? GENIE!!!!, oh! how great Robin Williams was in this one, and not to mention the soft spot I have for ‘A Whole New World’..beautiful song…and I’m ashamed to admit it but I just love!!! Iago too..lol…that parrot just won me over with his sarcasm.

8. Shrek II– This film has more masala than all of Manmohan Deasi’s works. The introduction of Puss in Boots in the inimitable voice of Antonio Banderas. The camaraderie between Puss,Donkey and Shrek, the evil plots of The Fairy Godmother and Prince Charming, the magic potion, the sexual innuendos, the farting!, the action..Livin La ViDa Loca..oh! it was all so much fun. Great stuff!!My favourite part however, was the half donkey/half dragon babies jumping on Donkey after the end credits :)

7. Toy Story II– To infinity and beyoooonnnddd!! This one is arguably the best sequel ever! with the exception of LOTR-Two Towers. The first one had Woody(Tom Hanks) rescuing Buzz(Tim Allen) while this one had the whole gang trying to rescue Woody from  Al MacWiggin. Great storyline; Woody finds about his legacy with the TV show Woody’s Roundup and is excited to become popular again. The movie is a fun filled ride with Buzz and the others rescuing Woody, Bull’s Eye and Jessie from Al MacWiggin and Stinky Pete the Prospector. I liked the scenes with Buzz and Emperor Zurg in particular :) and all the Barbie dolls!! 

6. Monsters, Inc.– This is the sweetest animated film I’ve seen till date. The bond between James P. Sullivan and Boo is just too good! I don’t know what language she spoke, but Mary Gibbs was excellent with the voice-over for Boo. And then there was Billy Crystal, whoa!, this man is amazing..if it weren’t for his voice, Mike Wazowski wouldn’t have been even half as entertaining.

5. Toy Story– The first, and quite arguably the greatest of its kind. I have discussed the characters earlier, but the effect of watching talking walking toys was certainly greater the first time. Great storyline, shocking actually :) . Rex was exceedingly funny in this one and though a child, you couldn’t help but hate Sid. BUZZ LIGHTYEAR TO THE RESCUE!!

4. Shrek–Yeah, I like this one better. While Shrek II was high on masala and comedy, this one was more emotional. It did have its fair share of action and comedy though. The main reason why I find this one better is the camaraderie between Shrek and Donkey which was shared with Puss in the second installment, and was totally missing in the third one. It’s one of those movies I can watch once every week..if no one has a problem :)

3. Finding Nemo– If I was shocked to see Toy Story, then I was just blown over by the concept of this film. Man!! how can someone come up with such a ridiculous story and tell it so perfectly? Of all the main characters, Dory (Ellen Degeneres) is roof shatteringly hilarious, while Marlin(Albert Brooks) and Nemo(Alexander Gould) are pretty good at what they’re supposed to do. William Dafoe is brilliant as Gill …and Bubbles, Chuckles, Jacques, Peach, Deb and Bloat are highly entertaining. Nigel as the pelican friend is just too good and has some scene stealing moments. The greatest scene stealers however, were the turtles in the EAC(East Australian Current), the voice-over for Crush was simply awesome! Duuuuudee!!

2. Ice Age–Manfred, Sid and Diego..the great trinity! The love I have for this movie grows everytime I watch it. It’s a strange mixture of sadness and happiness, but it truly fills your heart with pleasure. Ray Romano(of Everybody Loves Rayond fame) does a great job a Manny and John Leguizamo and Denis Leary are excellent in their voice-overs for Sid and Diego. The real HERO however, is Scrat! and his acorn obsession.. and what job Chris Wedge does with his voice..damn hilarious!!

1. The Lion King–Simba, Timon, Pumba…you can’t get any popular than that…only Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader come close. Not just animations, it is simply one of the greatest films ever made..period! Matthew Broderick lends credibility to the inexperienced and youthful voice of Simba and Natha Lane and Ernie Sabella are outstanding! as Timon and Pumba. No words can describe the mammoth that Jeremy Irons is…deadly voice-over for Scar. Zazu the hornbill was also great as the King’s sidekick…the three hyenas provided some extremely funny moments. And who can forget ‘hakuna matata’ and ‘can you feel the love tonight’. It’s sad that the sequels have been utterly boring,but I still haven’t lost hope. Maybe Simba’s great great grandson or someone will give us a Lion King Reborn! :)

There Are 25 Responses So Far. »

  1. akshay shah 26 September 2007
    02:54:50 am

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    Whoa! A total surprise, and a wonderful post here Sunny, this is a avenue that has hardly been discussed on NG, thanks for bringing it up!

    FINDING NEMO, THE LION KING, ALLADIN are some of my all time favorite films. SHREK I liked, but never quiet became an absolute nut of. In recent times I enjoyed HOODWINKED and THE INCREDIBLES quiet a bit. I Preferred ANTZ to A BUGS LIFE.

    And I haven’t yet seen ICE AGE–better get on to it.

    A.Shah

  2. Sunny 26 September 2007
    03:35:03 am

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    Askhay–lol…thanks :) . Antz would have made the list if there was a No. 11. You haven’t seen ICE AGE!!!???Damn! do it, do it now.

  3. akshay shah 26 September 2007
    03:39:19 am

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    Lol, I will…it’s on this weekend’s “hire list”;-)!

  4. HAL 26 September 2007
    05:46:39 am

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    Good list bro. Although, the order might be different in my case. A big Toy story fan here. In fact, that got me hooked to Pixar films! Haven’t seen Ratatouille yet though. :(

    [although I should confess that I'm more of an Anime/Manga addict. But it's distinctive and more adult oriented than a light-hearted family affair (as with animations)]

  5. Sunny 26 September 2007
    06:11:43 am

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    HAL–Thanks pal. Me a big manga fan too!!!DragonBallz is an all time favourite!!!Bleach and so many more. I have quite a few comic books too. Even flirted a little with Hentai, he he, it turned out ot be a little too morbid for my tastes though..lol.

  6. goodfella 26 September 2007
    07:38:47 am

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    Nice list, Sunny – I especially love the Toy Story series.

    My favorite animations

    1) The Triplets of Belleville (Chomet, 2003)
    2) The Iron Giant (Bird, 1999)
    3) The Nightmare Before Christmas (Selick, 1993)
    4) Spirited Away (Miyazake, 2001)
    5) Princess Mononoke (Miyazake, 1997)
    6) South Park: Bigger, Longer, Uncut (Parker, 1999)
    7) Toy Story (Lasster, 1995)
    8) Pinocchio (Luske & Sharpsteen, 1940)
    9) The Halloween Tree (Piluso, 1993)
    10) Who Framed Roger Rabbit? (Zemeckis, 1988) – I’m cheating, yes.

    Really looking forward to Chomet’s next as well as this year’s “Beowulf”

  7. satyam 26 September 2007
    08:00:05 am

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    Good idea for a post here Sunny!

    I see Miyazake in Goodfella’s list and note with some sadness that I still haven’t seen Spirited Away!

    For anyone interested one of the great great movies in this regard is the silent Adventures of Prince Achmed (Reininger).

  8. goodfella 26 September 2007
    08:05:47 am

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    I’d heard about that silent some time ago but sadly I haven’t seen it. On the Miyazake: WATCH IT.

  9. goodfella 26 September 2007
    09:10:22 am

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    I’ve Netflixed Prince Achmed, Satyam…

  10. HAL 26 September 2007
    11:24:09 am

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    Any Miyazaki film would do. Every film of his is worth your time and energy! “Princess mononoke”, “Howl’s moving castle”, “Porco Rosso” are the other equally good films that I could recollect. And, try checking out “Rurouni kenshin: reminiscence” OVA, “Grave of the fireflies” (very popular), “Animatrix” (A matrix fan exposes himself here, but wait HAL is way too pretentious, back to 2001 :) ), South park : TBLU version, Akira, Ghost in the Shell. This should do for now, more later…

    P.S: Subtitled versions mandatory!

  11. HAL 26 September 2007
    11:28:49 am

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    Sunny,

    LOL! Wouldn’t be surprised if you’re a Frank miller fan as well! BTW, my favorite mangas are “Death note” and “Lone wolf and cub”! Check ‘em out!

  12. Sunny 26 September 2007
    10:06:37 pm

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    HAL–As a matter of fact..I am ;) . Rurouri Kenshin I just love! And don;t sweat too much over Ratatouille, some run of the mill too long!! shoo scat scurry sequences intertwined with a triumph of the underdog story. It could have been great!, but something was missing, can’t pinpoint on it though.

    Satyam/Goodfella–Excuisite lists!. I was thinking in terms of hardcore CGI animations, otherwise my all-time favourite is still ‘Snow White & The Seven Dwarfs’ and ‘Lady and The Tramp’ comes a very close second. I’ve only seen Spirited Away by Miyazaki, let’s see if I can get my hands on the others you guys have mentioned. Good to see so many suckers for animations here, I was getting scared I might be the only one for my age..lol.

  13. Sunny 26 September 2007
    10:10:18 pm

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    oh!..as much as I hate to admit it, I loved the KOF and Street Fighter movies too…and Ninja Scroll!, but that was partly due to COF’s rendition of Iron Maiden’s ‘Hallowed Be Thy Name’ :)

  14. Sunny 26 September 2007
    10:16:41 pm

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    BTW, has any of you noticed the shoutbox lately, it’s goin from bad to worse, I wonder if Rohit should do away with it.

  15. Sid 26 September 2007
    10:22:16 pm

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    oh just noticed it (shout box). I normally dont even give it a look – but this is some seriously bad shit!
    Actually very racist if I must say!

  16. HAL 26 September 2007
    10:23:48 pm

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    Sunny,
    I liked “Ninja Scroll”. I watched few episodes of “Full metal alchemist”, couldn’t finish it off due to lack of time. I got my hands on “Cowboy bebop”, and “Death note”. But, Anime series is a far shot! If I start watching ‘em, I couldn’t afford to watch NBA, F1, EPL, play games, read books and watch films. I’m sure thats the case with everyone. :)

  17. satyam 26 September 2007
    10:25:37 pm

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    Sunny: I love all those older Disneys. Snow White is one of the all time greats but I also like many others. I think the last great animated movie they made was Aladdin or Lion King (whichever followed). I am excluding the Pixar stuff where obviously there’s been other good work. I also love Alice in Wonderland and in fact on the DVD release they’ve included the Cheshire Cat song.

    Of course Fantasia is rightly considered the all time great from Disney.

    The problem post-Lion King was that it became a very cynical enterprise, extremely formulaic in many ways.

    Incidentally I liked Toy Story more than the sequel. I loved Shrek, didn’t like the sequel and haven’t seen Shrek the Third.

    I’ve actually heard extraordinary praise for Ratatouille but haven’t seen it yet.

  18. Sunny 27 September 2007
    12:30:08 am

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    Hal–lol

    Satyam–Yeah it was The Lion King, Aladdin came first.You’re right about them becoming a little formulaic post TLK, The Incredibles is one good example of that, but even then they are bang on target almost everytime. I loved Poccahontas too. As for Ratatouille, yeah…it has been getting praises galore from every which way..but as you mentioned..I found it way too formulaic and lacking a certain amount of depth..esp. the bonding between Remy(the rat) and Alfredo(the young chef)..something was missing here.

  19. Zen 27 September 2007
    02:03:38 am

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    Great post Sunny. As I scrolled down your list I held my breath to see whether Ice Age made your list! Its my favourite of this decade. I love the scene in the cave where Manny looks at the cave paintings showing the crimes of man on his own species. And the climax where baby is returned to the humans! very poignant.

    Excellent point satyam on the demise (artistically) of disney post 94/95. Without pixar and some dreamworks stuff, Commercial animation would have been truly dead as an art.

    My all time favs:
    1. Beauty and the beast (1991)- I don’t understand why noone mentioned this.Oscar nominated for best picture, and I can vouch for the characters that they deserve a nomination too! The french setting was a masterstroke.

    2. Ice Age

    3. Dumbo – magical and it has not lost its magic.

    4.The Jungle Book – I can write a book on the experiences of people regarding this picture.

    5. The Lion King – Africa and those songs!Sadly disney went down after this, especially regarding the sidekick characters

    6. The little Mermaid – the rejuvenation of the animation IMO.

    7. Snow White and the 7 Dwarves – It is more than just the classic

    8.Spirited Away (2000) – After watching this I had a serious urge to make an animation of all the folk tales I heard as a kid. Deep yet innocent….

    9. Shrek (2001) – Clever, original and at the same time very traditional. Humour galore for the adults

    Honourable mention: Monsters Inc (most exciting climax in an animation), Toy story, Finding Nemo.

    I must say that Pixar stuff is great but I get a sense of doing it for the market and $$, so it tends to lack soul.

  20. Sunny 27 September 2007
    04:22:45 am

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    Zen–Those scenes were absolutely brilliant! The one where Manny holds the baby with his trunk and the mother disappears in the river was also brilliant! In fact I was very tempted to put Ice Age at No. 1.. but Lion King is something very special to me..it edged out Ice Age purely on nostalgic grounds :) Beauty and The Beast is indeed very good, the overly long singing sequences spoilt the fun a bit for me though, that’s why it doesn’t figure in my favourite lists. Dumbo I’ve still got to see!

  21. goodfella 27 September 2007
    05:08:39 am

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    “As for Ratatouille, yeah…it has been getting praises galore from every which way..but as you mentioned..I found it way too formulaic and lacking a certain amount of depth..”

    Absolutely, Sunny. What’s funny is that what I enjoyed a lot more was the CGI short that they showed before “Ratatouille” – “Lifted” about the alien “trainee”. That was genius!

  22. Sunny 27 September 2007
    05:30:07 am

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    yeah goodfella, that was indeed genius.

  23. abzee 27 September 2007
    05:48:35 am

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    I must confess that I haven’t seen a lot of animated stuff. But of the littel that I’ve seen, these are my top ten-

    01) The Tom & Jerry series
    02) The Zagreb films
    03) Ice Age
    04) The Lion King
    05) Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genuis
    06) Spirited Away
    07) Toy Story
    08) The Iron Giant
    09) Titan A.E.
    10) Eight Crazy Nights

    Unfortunately, I’ve yet to see Ratatouille, Finding Nemo, The Incredibles and The Tripletes Of Belville.

  24. abzee 27 September 2007
    05:51:34 am

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    BTW, is it just me who thinks that the Shrek and Ice Age sequels are undeservingly overrated. I can’t even stand Shrek II.

  25. akshay shah 27 September 2007
    05:59:29 am

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    I haven’t seen any of the other SHREK’s yet Abzee!

    BTW Agree on the Shoutbox, there’s some very weird stuff going on in there!

    A.Shah

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