Snarkastic

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

Coraline

LIVIA: This movie was so wonderful. It was all my favorite things: creepy, charming, original, sweet, different...even Teri Hatcher's voice couldn't take me out of it. I adore "Coraline".
NASTINCHKA: Children's movies rarely get made like this anymore, and that's a terrible state of affairs. It's patently unfair that this sinister little gem of a flick has to go up against the Pixar borg.

Fantastic Mr. Fox

LIVIA: I know I'm going to take a lot of heat for saying this, but...meh.
NASTINCHKA: Pretty charming, although I'm biased in favor of the source material (this is my favorite Roald Dahl book by a mile). But it doesn't stack up against Disney, Pixar, or Neil Gaiman. What a year for animated films -- no DreamWorks faux-3D getups here to fill out the roster.

The Princess and the Frog

LIVIA: Yay!! Disney animation is back!! I was so happy after seeing this movie. I'm not going to lie to you: Bailey and I both had a tear in our eye about the firefly. "Almost There" is a great song. The actress who played Tiana's rich friend did a hilarious young Blanche Devereaux impression. Finally, I have a thing for cool alligators who can play the horn. All in all, highly satisfactory.
NASTINCHKA: Hail the return of hand-drawn 2D with a fuck-ton of money behind it. It's not their best, and weirdly lacks a true showstopping number from Alan Menken, but it exists, and I'm happy for that.

The Secret of Kells

LIVIA: This is the one flick I haven't seen that I want to see most. There's a lot of critical acclaim here, and I'm feeling a groundswell of Oscar possibility. We'll see.
NASTINCHKA: I'm not one to question Livvy's Academy soothsaying, and I missed this one in theaters. STUPID GEORGIA. But, again, Pixar. They're not good at losing, especially when all they have to go up against is an animated field, even one as strong as this year's.

Up
NASTINCHKA: The first ten minutes alone, right? That locks this up cold. It's not my favorite of theirs, but these guys are utterly incapable of making a bad movie, and the world is better for their continual commitment to taking the time and money and talent necessary to keep churning out films of this caliber.
LIVIA: It's an impressive feat when a movie manages to strike home with a toddler, a tween who usually texts nonstop at the theater, a college freshman, a twenty something, and a neuroradiologist in the same sitting. That's exactly what Up did. Winner.

UNNECESSARY AND AGGRAVATING SNUB
NASTINCHKA: 9. It wasn't as good as the short, but it was better than we had any right to expect from a first-time feature director.

SHOULD WIN: Coraline.
WILL WIN: Up.

Posted by Nastinchka at March 6, 2010 05:51 PM