Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign.
[00:00:05] Speaker B: Welcome to five Minute Film Finder brought to you by Pioneer Library System.
Hello and welcome back to another five Minute Film Finder. I'm Ben and I'm joined today by Darren.
It is February and we are here today to cover a couple of animated family friendly films. A couple, couple like kind of far flung, more modern animated movie and a 80s animated cult classic, would you call?
[00:00:39] Speaker A: Yeah, I'd say cult classic. You know, it's. It's definitely a movie that didn't do well when it came out.
[00:00:44] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:00:45] Speaker A: Commercial failure as far as that goes. But a lot of people love it.
[00:00:49] Speaker B: Yes. Yeah. And very like. And when we discuss it, you'll, you'll kind of see why a lot of very like striking things about this movie. But we've been trying to cover a lot more family friendly films, kind of balance out our sheets on our genres because we realized that we're real heavy in a couple areas and real light in some other ones and animation is one of them.
[00:01:11] Speaker A: We haven't done hardly any animation, so I thought it'd be a good idea,
[00:01:15] Speaker B: especially when we have a couple like particularly striking ones like we have today.
So with that being said, do you want to just go ahead and jump into it?
[00:01:23] Speaker A: Yeah, let's get right into it.
[00:01:24] Speaker B: Great.
So if Wilhelm will start the timer.
What's our first movie today?
[00:01:30] Speaker A: So first up we have the Last unicorn from 1982, rated G.
Like we said, this is the one that did not do well commercially. Great came out and you know, made its little budget back on the box office, whatever. But it wasn't a big deal.
[00:01:45] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:01:46] Speaker A: But quickly gained a cult following and is beloved by many people. Basically follows the story of a unicorn. I'm Gonna read the IMDb description here. We have a beautiful unicorn sets out to learn if she truly is the last of her kind in this sparkling animated musical.
[00:02:05] Speaker B: I mean, I feel like sparkling is a really good descriptor. It feels like a sparkling.
[00:02:11] Speaker A: It is definitely a sparkling movie.
There is a lot of songs, but I didn't really. I don't feel like it's a musical.
[00:02:19] Speaker B: Yeah, it doesn't read as a musical. Right.
[00:02:22] Speaker A: She doesn't sing a bunch. Right?
[00:02:23] Speaker B: Yes. Right.
[00:02:24] Speaker A: Like you would. The main character in the musical is going to, you know.
[00:02:27] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:02:27] Speaker A: Got to sing a bunch. The unicorn doesn't sing a bunch. There's a lot of songs, but.
[00:02:32] Speaker B: And I don't think it technically is a musical. I think it's like musical interludes in a movie.
[00:02:36] Speaker A: Lots of, Lots of America. The Band of America.
[00:02:39] Speaker B: There's no characters singing. And it's not advancing the plot.
[00:02:42] Speaker A: No, no. It's all just.
[00:02:44] Speaker B: It's them singing about the montages that are going on. Yes, but that's. That's about it. Yeah. So it's like. It's the middle between.
[00:02:51] Speaker A: Right. To actually call it a musical is a stretch.
[00:02:54] Speaker B: So.
[00:02:54] Speaker A: But yeah, like I said, the Ban America is the primary thing on the. During those montages, this soft rock kind of 80s.
[00:03:03] Speaker B: And it really cements the vibe of this movie directly into the 80s. It's a moment, like, because of the way that this movie is made. It doesn't pull me out of it, but it does put me in a very specific mood when watching all this fantasy stuff. When, with America going on, it fits. Very nice to, like, the, like, as we said, sparkly aspect of the unicorn basis of the movie. Because it isn't like triumphant rock and roll music.
[00:03:36] Speaker A: Oh, absolutely not. Yeah. It's very.
Like I said, it's soft and it kind of is just a.
Gives a kind of a gentle vibe to the whole movie.
[00:03:48] Speaker B: Absolutely. Yeah.
[00:03:49] Speaker A: Even when there is some violence and there's not much. There's a little bit.
[00:03:52] Speaker B: There's some scary creatures and characters, but, like, it's. It's. It is a gentler movie.
Even though we have magic, we have monsters, we have conflict.
And I really enjoyed it. Like, the characters are all kind of, like, gentle. There's not even like the, like, the hero prince guy isn't like a big, big, like, hulking, manly.
[00:04:18] Speaker A: He has an interesting line there that I thought was for the 80s especially. He says, I love whom I love.
And I really kind of felt that, like, it was interesting.
[00:04:28] Speaker B: It was, like, very lovely in that way. Yeah.
[00:04:31] Speaker A: Voiced by Jeff Bridges.
[00:04:33] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:04:33] Speaker A: Interesting voice cast.
[00:04:34] Speaker B: We gotta talk about the voice cast because it's kind of stacked.
[00:04:39] Speaker A: Mia Farrow is the unicorn, the main character. Unicorn. You have.
Schmendrick is played by Alan Arkin.
[00:04:45] Speaker B: Alan Arkin giving a super Alan Arkin performance for a, like, kind of bumbling young wizard.
[00:04:52] Speaker A: Yeah. Kind of, you know, he's kind of a goof.
[00:04:54] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:04:54] Speaker A: And he doesn't believe in himself.
[00:04:56] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:04:57] Speaker A: And that's his journey is kind of just, you know, believing in himself.
[00:05:00] Speaker B: Absolutely.
[00:05:01] Speaker A: For this movie and, you know, not breaking the mold or anything as far as the story goes. But it kind of hits those beats.
[00:05:08] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:05:08] Speaker A: It works pretty well.
And then, of course, you have Christopher Lee playing the. The main villain of the story, King Haggard. And, you know, Christopher Lee's always great.
[00:05:17] Speaker B: Yeah. I mean, like, placing him playing A. A mad old king, right, is great.
[00:05:23] Speaker A: And his, his look is so good. Like just the, the weird angular face he's got and the stuff going on.
[00:05:28] Speaker B: I mean. And that's another thing we got to talk about. The design for the characters like, is something that you don't see in animation. Like there's very extreme ends of like character design. The unicorn is very like non.
Is like ethereal kind of because like the proportions don't make sense but it gives it that very like almost like all white.
[00:05:51] Speaker A: And the way it just kind of in these green environments that they constantly show her in. It's. Yeah, it's interesting.
[00:05:56] Speaker B: And then all of our like more evil characters are like very angular or like very like wretched looking.
[00:06:04] Speaker A: They use red.
The big Red Bull and stuff like that. Yeah, the villains were interested in this one. And the animation is interesting to talk about too. Made by. Animated by Topcraft, which would basically go on to become Studio Ghibli.
[00:06:19] Speaker B: Oh, amazing.
[00:06:20] Speaker A: Miyazaki did not work on this movie, but a bunch of the animators that he would like buy out Topcraft and create Studio Ghibli based on like with these animators and stuff.
[00:06:29] Speaker B: So I mean, and you kind of feel that too. Like there's. There's moments and like vibes with how they like. And there's Wilhelm interrupting us and like there's so much to talk about with this movie. Obviously. Is there anything like. I feel like there's got to be something important that we haven't covered.
You got anything?
[00:06:49] Speaker A: It's like I said, it's pretty good. Yeah, I think, I think that if you enjoy a fantasy film.
[00:06:53] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:06:54] Speaker A: You got to watch it.
[00:06:55] Speaker B: This is also like, like we were saying before, it's. It's a gentle fantasy film. So especially like if you are wanting to like watch a movie with your kids or like with your family, like this might be a good one to throw on because it's not going to like jump out.
[00:07:10] Speaker A: The very little violence like is. Is kind of. They use the red flashing thing when the harpy is attacking and it's. And it's her back like. So there's the other characters.
[00:07:20] Speaker B: Nothing explicit. Yeah, yeah, right. It is.
[00:07:22] Speaker A: It is a movie of its time, but still 1982, rated G. So like I said.
[00:07:27] Speaker B: But yeah, I feel like the scariest thing in it are the character designs rather than anything they show them. The Red Bull is just like kind of scary looking. Yeah, yeah.
But with that, that was the Last Unicorn. And we're gonna take a quick break and Then we'll be back with our next movie.
All right, we are back.
And we'll just go ahead and jump into our next movie. If Wilhelm will start the timer, we will be talking about 2011's the Adventures of Tintin.
I'll start out by reading the IMDb synopsis.
Intrepid reporter Tintin and Captain Haddock set up, set off on a treasure hunt for a sunken ship commanded by Haddock's ancestor.
That's very like right up the middle of what's going on. This is a classic adventure film based on a kid's book.
[00:08:27] Speaker A: Like a classic strip comic strip.
[00:08:29] Speaker B: It's a huge series by the author, believe pronounced Hurg Hurg.
And like I read these books, the Titan books. I checked these books out from my local library, the one that I now work for.
And so I was very excited when I found out that they're making this movie and it's directed by Steven Spielberg, of all people, who was, I believe, a big fan of the series.
[00:08:57] Speaker A: Yeah, I believe that was his main, main entry into this was something that he loved as a kid.
[00:09:02] Speaker B: And, and you can see why, like the man who made Indiana Jones is going to of course, love a child reporter.
[00:09:11] Speaker A: So feels like Indiana Jones, like as a kid kind of thing, like globetrotting mystery.
[00:09:16] Speaker B: Yeah. Like it's got all the things that you want in a classic like kids adventure. Like you got cool locations, you got really cool action sequences, which Spielberg just masterfully. I think that's the interesting thing because this is cg.
You can go overboard with action sequences because your camera can go wherever you want.
[00:09:40] Speaker A: Right.
[00:09:40] Speaker B: And at any time. And I think what sets Spielberg apart with this movie is you never lose track of what's going on. It's always very digestible.
[00:09:50] Speaker A: Because he's such a pro with the camera. Right. Like that vision. That camera vision is, you know, he's excellent at that. And I think, I agree. I think that carries over really well to this movie.
[00:10:00] Speaker B: And a classic element in the Tintin books is like there are moments of chaos that they like lead you through kind of a maze of action that happens. And he like kind of gives you the on screen version of that very well. And like is very satisfying.
[00:10:14] Speaker A: Basically the stuff with the dog. Exactly. Anything with Snowy.
[00:10:17] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:10:17] Speaker A: In this movie is great. The way he's tracked and stuff.
[00:10:20] Speaker B: Yeah.
The only thing I will say about this that throws me off is the uncanny valley of how realistically everything is rendered. But they kept the, the character designs picture perfect to the books. So everybody's got these like, very 1940s illustration. Like cartoony, like comic strip proportion and design, but with realistic rendered skin and teeth and hair. And like, for certain characters, it's kind of upsetting.
[00:10:59] Speaker A: Like, you know, the Captain Haddock when he. The close ups on his face when he's drinking.
[00:11:03] Speaker B: Teeny tiny eyes, got big bulbous nose. And like. Like there's. Yeah, there's like.
Like I said, it's. It's an Uncanny Valley effect where, like, at moments I was just like, this is too much. I wish it was like, rendered a little bit more cartoony or a little bit more stylized just to like, abstract from that.
Otherwise, I think this is a fantastically rendered movie. Like for a CG movie of this type.
[00:11:27] Speaker A: Yeah, I think it looks.
[00:11:27] Speaker B: It would be so easy to get wrong. But they did such a good job.
[00:11:30] Speaker A: Especially those action scenes. Like you said, like it.
The one with the building and the water in that scene where it's in Morocco.
[00:11:40] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:11:41] Speaker A: Such a good scene as far as action. And like you said, it felt so Indiana Jones, the way the whole thing just kind of played out.
[00:11:48] Speaker B: Yes.
Another stellar voice cast.
Jamie Bell is voicing Tintin, but the real heavy lifting is done by Andy Serkis. Go figure. As Captain Paddock.
[00:12:03] Speaker A: Such a good part. By Y. Serkis as Haddock.
[00:12:06] Speaker B: Yeah. And Daniel Craig. And I think one of his first, like, starting to show the public how, like, he likes to be fun, how he likes to be a little weirder, a little more. Playing the villain.
[00:12:18] Speaker A: Yeah, playing the villain. And kind of a mustache twirling kind of guy. Yeah.
[00:12:23] Speaker B: It's interesting and I really enjoyed that.
But this is so fun.
It follows their trying to find sunken treasure.
[00:12:35] Speaker A: Yeah, it's just a sunken treasure.
[00:12:36] Speaker B: Like, for a kid.
[00:12:37] Speaker A: The setup is so basic. Like, you can, you know, you can basically make any movie with this basic setup and. But they did such a great job with this adventure movie.
[00:12:45] Speaker B: I mean, I. I would even just. I think I have, like, just thinking about this movie pulled up certain action scenes just because of how fun it is. Like the tank one going down the hill.
Oh, and there's Wilhelm. But there's just so many, like, masterfully rendered action scenes that are so fun to watch and are just like. It's light. Light is there, like. And it's a breezy watch.
Nothing. Like there is violence, but it's all like, very light.
[00:13:16] Speaker A: The sword fight with the cranes. The cranes as swords. Like, there's a bunch of that stuff in this movie, but that's so good. Like, their ancestors fought an actual sword fight as pirate and captain of sheer ship or whatever. But then they're fighting with cranes in a shipyard and it looks like a sword fight. It's really good.
[00:13:35] Speaker B: Yeah. Lots of just fun little ways to abstract and make it more family friendly but still satisfying and fun.
[00:13:44] Speaker A: Who doesn't love a John Williams score?
[00:13:46] Speaker B: Yes, it just lifts it up in the way that you want it to.
I think this one is probably going to be a much more broad appeal than the Last Unicorn.
More niche.
[00:13:59] Speaker A: Basically anybody can watch this movie and have fun. You know, it's more modern take and stuff like that.
[00:14:06] Speaker B: Sure, absolutely.
Well, that's all. That's all I've got for 10 10. I think it was a fun episode. I had to jump on this one last minute, so I appreciate Darren sticking with it even though I barely prepared.
We managed. Yeah, absolutely. Well, that's all for this week and we will catch you next week for a deep focus. Maybe. We'll see.
Bye Bye.
Five Minute Film Finder is a digital program brought to you by Pioneer Library System in Oklahoma.
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Five Minute Film Finder is produced, recorded and mixed by Ben Si. Theme music by Ben Si.
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