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Mary and Max Trailer | Pajiba - Scathing Reviews for Bitchy People

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Hipster Claymation

Did You Know That Turtles Could Breathe Through Their Anuses? / Dustin Rowles

Trailers | October 19, 2009 | Comments (21)

Dammit: I like real people on screen. If you get a good script, give me a live-action movie. Turning a well-written screenplay into an animated project just seems gimmicky to me (though I’m 85 percent sure I’m in the minority). Mary and Max seems like just that movie. It comes from writer/director Adam Elliot, who won an Oscar in 2004 for an animated short.

And it looks like a pretty decent film. It’s about a lonely eight-year-old (Mary) who grabs the phone book and randomly selects a pen pal, a creepy but endearing old man. It’s got a great voice cast, and unless you knew who the actors were, you’d never know they were voicing the movie (the old man is Phillip Seymour Hoffman, and Mary is Toni Collette).

Eh. It’s probably just me. I don’t care for claymation. Sue me. Oh, and then jump up my ass.




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Comments

Okay claymation usually scares the beejeebus out of me (think creepy holiday specials like Rudolph) but I think Wallace and Gromit has cured me. This looks adorable and the old man sounds like Carl from Aqua Team Hungerforce.

Posted by: amanda47 at October 19, 2009 11:42 AM

So....I'm part turtle? Because I tend to exhale...a LOT...through my butt.

Posted by: PissBoy at October 19, 2009 11:45 AM

this looks adorable, and probably wouldn't be able to pull off the same kind of cute quirk if it were a live action movie.

Posted by: buttercup at October 19, 2009 11:53 AM

I totally want to see this. How in the Hell is that Toni Collette?

Posted by: annoyingmouse at October 19, 2009 11:54 AM

I shall neither sue you nor jump up your ass. I will tell you that I love... no, I LOVE claymation, and that I will very likely see this movie, although probably on DVD. Or Instant Netflix, whichever comes first.

Posted by: Anna von Beaverpuppet at October 19, 2009 11:56 AM

The death of the mime made me love it.

Posted by: Pinky McLadybits at October 19, 2009 11:57 AM

Dammit: I like real people on screen. If you get a good script, give me a live-action movie. Turning a well-written screenplay into an animated project just seems gimmicky to me

I'm confused. Dislike stop-motion if you will, but you honestly don't see the value in different mediums? Or are you just talking about certain scripts? Do you think Coraline would've worked as well if it were live-action? All mediums have advantages and disadvantages.

I equate your statement to saying that sculpture is a cheap 3D gimmick. If you got something to convey, do it in a painting, for Christ's sake.

Editor's note: I've been a fan of stop-motion animation since as far back as I can remember. You can keep your Da Vincis, Michelangelos, and Picassos. Give me Harryhausen!

Posted by: pissant at October 19, 2009 12:06 PM

Not better or worse, just different. Animation or claymation allows you to do things you can't do with live action. Besides, Toni Collette couldn't pull off playing an 8 year old in live action, and Phil Hoffman would be distractingly himself.

From the looks of it, you could probably close your eyes and just listen to this movie for 80 minutes and have a more enjoyable experience than a lot of other movies would provide. It's been saved in my queue for awhile now.

Posted by: Yossarian at October 19, 2009 12:08 PM

So animated films require shitty screenplays?

Good to know Wall-E should have been live action.

Posted by: Robert at October 19, 2009 12:28 PM

"Eh. It’s probably just me. I don’t care for claymation. Sue me. Oh, and then jump up my ass..."


How about if we put our collective foot up there?

Hater.

Posted by: BarbadoSlim at October 19, 2009 12:36 PM

Thank you for the offer Dustin, but I think I will forego the assplay and get straight to the throat spelunking.

Posted by: admin at October 19, 2009 12:48 PM

Don't like claymation? Is that even possible?

Anyway, you can tell your freaky Doctor Human Centipede man that we've found him a more sensible species.

Posted by: Cindy at October 19, 2009 1:27 PM

#1: "Eh. It’s probably just me. I don’t care for claymation. Sue me. Oh, and then jump up my ass..."

#2: How about if we put our collective foot up there?

#3: That's a recipe for constipated turtle! Let's leave all appendages out of butts, eh? Turtles have enough problems with the arthritis (150 yrs old!) and the swimming to sea and people bumming rides on them. We don't need to plug their bum holes too!

#4: What does a collective foot look like?

Posted by: amanda47 at October 19, 2009 1:34 PM

Nah, I dig it, too, Dustin. At least, I dig that you don't dig claymation. I remember being underwhelmed by Chicken Run. And it's just upsetting to know Seymour Hoffman is spending time with this project when he could be out working on something less clay-ey.

Posted by: Sapphiar at October 19, 2009 3:45 PM

Saw this movie last week at the Animation Festival in Ottawa and it was adorable, tear-jerking, quirky and insightful all at the same time. An incredibly enjoyable movie - and one that won the Grand Prize for Best Animated Feature Film.

Posted by: Qster at October 19, 2009 3:56 PM

It looks wonderfully cute!

I had to listen to it twice to try and hear Toni Collette in the little girl's voice. Impressive. I find it can be distracting when the voices are too easy to pick out.

Posted by: Alli at October 19, 2009 4:34 PM

Give me claymation over CGI or 3-D animation. It's even better with thumbprints. I actually think this movie would be rather perpy in live action. Then again, it's pretty perpy in claymation, too.

Posted by: BWeaves at October 19, 2009 4:52 PM

I met Adam Elliot a few years ago. He was doing a signing at the bookstore I used to work right after he won the Oscar for Harvey Krumpet. Super nice guy and very genuine. We had him for an allotted window of time and there was still a queue forming as our time was running out, but he insisted that he would stay and sign as long as people were lining up. Very cool guy.

Posted by: Daniel Hall at October 19, 2009 7:42 PM

Come on Dustin, it's not like it's CGI and features obnoxious animals.

And I can vouch for Adam Elliot's ability to tell an entertaining story, I saw his short "Harvey Krumpet."

Posted by: ruru at October 19, 2009 7:52 PM

Actually. You will find that 8 year old Mary Daisy Dinkle is voiced by a then 8 year old Australian actress, Bethany Whitmore. Toni Collette voices adult Mary.

Posted by: Ben at October 19, 2009 8:23 PM

#4: What does a collective foot look like?

Posted by: amanda47 at October 19, 2009 1:34 PM

-------------------------------------------------


You just made my list, sugartits.

Posted by: BarbadoSlim at October 19, 2009 11:17 PM





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