Kubo and the Two Strings

snichols1973

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Is anyone out there planning to see Kubo and the Two Strings, when it's scheduled to debut in theaters next week?

It features Art Parkinson as Kubo, with Charlize Theron as Monkey, Ralph Fiennes as Raiden the Monkey King, Matthew McConaughey as Beetle, Rooney Mara as the Sisters, Brenda Vaccaro as Kameyo, and George Takei as Hosato.

 

Pig'sSaysAdios

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I'm super excited for this movie!

Reasons to be excited:
  1. It's a fantasy film about a non North American or European country.
  2. The animation and art style looks amazing
  3. It's from the same studio that made "Boxtrolls", "Paranorman" and "Coraline"
  4. And best of all, it's an original story instead of a sequel unlike most features these days
 
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The Count

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Oh, so it's a Lyca production. Still haven't seen Boxtrolls, I've kind of passed off on ParaNorman (except should I need one of the ghosts from the opening montage like the Parachutist Ghost), and I love Coraline though I've yet to read the original book.
 

Drtooth

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Saw it this weekend, and it's a beautiful film on every level. Depressing as crap, but still a beautiful film with a brilliant forgery of a Japanese Folktale of a story. It's a real shame this isn't getting the viewership in its debut that a movie everyone claims to hate oh so much in its third week. Only tiny complaint is that I wish there were more Japanese actors doing the roles in this thing. The actual cast members that are of Japanese decent only really play the bit parts. Yes, even George Takai. But that didn't really affect my enjoyment of the movie either way. I'd say this and Zootopia were my top favorite animated movies of the year.

Of anything I can comment on, there's one thing that stood out about how Monkey and Beetle interacted:

They come off as an old married couple that actually can stand each other, yet be slightly annoyed by their antics because Monkey and Beetle are actually Kubo's mother and father. Monkey being the spirit of his mother who used her last bit of magic to have her soul infuse with the small, carved wood monkey charm she told Kubo to always carry around with him. Beetle being the father cursed to be an insect by the Sisters, meaning he was merely transformed and drained of his memories rather than actually dead.

Really can't wait to see what Laikia has next up their sleeves.
 

The Count

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For some reason, every time I read this title I keep braking into song...

"Kubo of the Two-Stringers, and the Ring of Doom!"
:sing:

Monkey and beetle spirits are prevalent in Japanese lore... There's the mangled versions of the four and seven-tailed beasts from Narudo, (mangled in the sense that those aren't the actual beasts for either number), then there's the Satori or Sarugami seen in various Ranger/Sentai seasons as well as the Yamachichi or small mountain monkey critter/yokai. As for the beetle, it's almost always included in any manga or anime or video game adaptation under the name of Kowanger (Boomer Kowanger from Mega Man X1) or Kowaga (Kowagamon from Digimon).

This film sounds interesting and I'd like to check it if I get the chance: 1, go to the movies with either friend or family; and 2, it's actually playing at any of my local cinemas.
If I miss it completely like what happened with this year's Through the Looking Glass, then I'll hexpect to air next year on Freeform. After all, they should be getting around to announcing their Halloween lineup soon and I'd think Boxtrolls would be one of this year's big scremieres.
 

Drtooth

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Yeah, and let's hope they schedule it better next time.
It strikes me sad that there's really no logical place for their movies. If they run them during the good months for these kinds of movies, they'd be clobbered by the bigger, mainstream kid's animated movies. If they run them during the quieter months, they can't scare up a good audience with little to no competition.

Then again, I just think with all the whining about how CGI animation is detracting from the production of 2-D animation, 3-D stop motion animation doesn't get much respect no matter what tone on levels of kid friendliness the project is. Sure, Laika's films seem to get no respect until they hit DVD, but so didn't Pirates: Adventures with Scientists, Shaun the Sheep, or even Frankenweenie. Maybe because the last one wasn't a movie Tim Burton made for goth fangirls in mind. And it's a shame. We don't get many 2-D animated films, sure, but when we get stop motion films, it barely registers.

Then again, part of me feels that was always the case. Nightmare Before Christmas wasn't immensely popular until the goths co-opted it. James and the Giant Peach wasn't a massive hit, and somehow it's getting a live action remake that'll somehow make more money than the original did.
 

D'Snowth

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  1. And best of all, it's an original story instead of a sequel unlike most features these days
Yeah, remember that fifteen years from now when we're all b!+c#!ng about the fifth one is getting ready to come out.
 

The Count

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Wha? James and the Giant Peach is getting a live-action remake? The Dahl estate must have authorized it, then again, I'm still waiting for Disney to announce the live-action version/release of Nightmare Before Christmas. Although there's some confusion over a potential NBC 2 for 2019 as mentioned at D23 2015, but everything about just doesn't fit fright with me.

BTW: James is another movie/book I have in my to-watch list. Yeah, I know, twenty years and I've never seen it, not even when it supposedly aired on CN if it aired at all, which it probably would have been the original in English buried between all the Spanish dubs they were airing at the time. :grouchy:
Heck, it's taken me all this time to recognize the weird movie seen on CN's movie block once was the fabled Twice Upon a Time. :shifty:
 

Drtooth

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Yeah, remember that fifteen years from now when we're all b!+c#!ng about the fifth one is getting ready to come out.
By the box office take, I'd say not bloody likely.

Wha? James and the Giant Peach is getting a live-action remake? The Dahl estate must have authorized it, then again, I'm still waiting for Disney to announce the live-action version/release of Nightmare Before Christmas. Although there's some confusion over a potential NBC 2 for 2019 as mentioned at D23 2015, but everything about just doesn't fit fright with me.
There is, but I can't get the page I heard the news on it to load properly. The news threw me as well, since James and the Giant Peach wasn't exactly a film that did well. Then again, the live action version of The Jungle Book probably made several times over what the original did, even counting in 3-D ticket prices and figuring how much the original would make with inflation.

Oh wait... here's the page now: http://www.cbr.com/007s-sam-mendes-in-talks-to-helm-james-and-the-giant-peach/

and in case it doesn't load properly for anyone else:

The rather substantial body count of two James Bond films appears to have rubbed off on director Sam Mendes — and now he could be looking for some lighter fare. Deadline reports that the director of both “Skyfall” and “Spectre” is in very early talks to direct a live-action adaptation of the children’s story “James and the Giant Peach” for Disney from a script by Nick Hornby.

Based on the classic work by Roald Dahl, the tale centers on a lonely orphan, James, befriending a troupe of anthropomorphic bugs who reside in — you guessed it — a giant peach as they all make their way towards New York City. This is the second time Dahl’s book has been adapted for the big screen. Henry Selick helmed a well-received live-action/stop motion hybrid featuring some heavy artistic influence from producer Tim Burton (“Corpse Bride,” “Big Fish”) for Walt Disney Animation back in 1996, and went on to gross $28.9 million domestically.

If the film follows recent Disney trends, the newest version will most likely be some combination of live action and CGI, and would be the latest announced in a series of live-action reimaginings from the Walt vaults. “Maleficent,” “Cinderella” and “The Jungle Book” all saw recent theatrical releases, with “The Little Mermaid,” “Dumbo,” “Cruella” and “Beauty and the Beast” all slated for the near future. Since the discussions between Mendes and Disney are in the early stages, it’s likely audiences won’t see this particular adaptation for at least a couple years.
 
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