Of the numerous animated films that I have screened, Up perhaps best combines visual effects with a meaningful yet humourous story. It is incredibly polished and may be the pinnacle of the obviously computer animated feature film if 3-D works such as Avatar are continually released. Yet it falls short of true cinematic greatness. Carl Fredricksen is a widow who is frustrated how the world has changed around him, literally and figuratively. He had fallen in love with his wife because they both imagined explorering the world, like their mutual idol Charles Munz. Despite all of their dreams, they never …
Waltz with Bashir
Waltz with Bashir, an animated film by Ari Folman, recounts the story of a man trying to recover repressed memories from his time in the army. The film is a study of contrasts: the black and white of the characters compared to the bright colours of the sky, children at play and children serving as child soldiers, the violence of R.P.G. explosions and the loud sounds of rock music, vibrant young people in a club and a dead child in a pile of rubble, the 2-D animation and the emotion of the live video footage shown the conclusion of the …