Double Review(DR): Bolt and waltz with Bashir

Well this is quite a special post. This shall be the last one in the series of posts dealing with this years Oscars. Yes, I did drop the ‘Oscar Road’ tag due to the reviews being past the dead end sign. Also this deals with two movies belonging to my favorite genre: Animation. I am a big fan of animation movies and believe they arent given their due credit. We had reviewed two of the three oscar nominated animation movies ie Wall E and Kung Fu Panda in the last episode of our now discontinued podcast. Check it out @ http://toomuchcinema.wordpress.com . Here I talk about the remaining two animation movies nominated for the oscars this year.

BOLT

Bolt is a marvellous movie about a dog with superpowers, er… Well who thinks he has superpowers. He is only a TV actor. Well this is not a spoiler because the viewer is told after the brilliant action sequence at the beginning. He is close to a young girl who is his co star and is made to believe she is his real owner. He gets transported to somewhere else by mistake and the movie is his journey back.  The movie is has some good animation, great characters(ie girl, the cat and the hamster) and good plot. It is very hilarious and has all the stuff you expect from an animation movie. Yes! Exactly all the stuff you need, making it at the same time the reason why people trivialise animation and love it. The reason it made it into the oscar list is because its strong moral plot, some great voice acting and its funniness. Ofcourse when Wall E and Kung Fu Panda are in the ring, you cant expect a Bolt to win. Do watch it because it is oodles of fun and if you, like me adore animation (you better do!) you will enjoy every moment.
Rating:7/10

Waltz With Bashir

When it comes to animation, all things Bolt is Waltz with Bashir is not. All things Waltz with Bashir is Bolt cant dream of. The slurry of emotions this ‘Waltz’ drowns you in will send an innocent dog cowering for help underneath the kitchen table.Waltz with Bashir takes animation to its next level something like what Wall-E and japanese stuff but on a different plane. Though the subject matter is different it is kinda similar to last year’s Persepolis. Animation in these two movies has been used to depict the surreal and complex emotions and graphical interpretations hard to capture in live action. Not saying they couldnt have been but animation makes it more easy and even more vivid. Surreal and Vivid being the key words here. It is made

Waltz with Bashir is the story of a man who is trying to recollect his past and meeting various people to do as he is unable to on his own. He was part of the Israeli army which took part in the 1982 lebanon war and cant remember any of that period. The movie gives you insight into what happened then and the ugliness of war. I gasped, was shocked, laughed, swayed and rolled as the movie went on. As i said the surreal and vivid imagery taunt and treat you as well as you can dream. Dream again being the key word. The movie is almost a dream, it deals with dreams and you wonder if you are dreaming after a while. It is a truly trippy experience which you must have.
Such the strength of the movie that I forgot to sell you its attention grabbing trivia. It is the first Israel animation movie released in theatres and won the Palme’ D Or at the Cannes fim festival and also the best foreign movie at the Golden Globes. The crew did an excellent job in making the movie and the brilliant soundtrack it is accompanied with only adds to the effect. I will keep going on about it but I shouldnt cos you need to feel the surreal and vivid dream like experience on your own.
Rating: 9/10
p.s: Oh i forgot this is a documentary of sorts. I might have forgotten to mention many things. But I wont make an effort to say anything else.