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D
Up was not only one of the best films of 2009 thus far, it’s one of the most touching and heartwarming films I’ve ever seen. I never, EVER, cry at films, and I was a wreck for the last thirty minutes of Up.
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Nick T
I almost cussed you out there for a second. Also, we still have “The Frog Princess” to get in. Lately, non-Pixar animated Disney films haven’t been so great (Valient, Robisons, Bolt) so here is the chance for redemption.
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Mary Q. Contrary
I actually really like Meet The Robinsons. It gets watched a lot around my house, and for good reason. It was heartwarming, intelligent, and had a great voice cast. Plus, the Tom Selleck joke was a riot.
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Connor
What do you mean? Bolt was awesome!
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Mary Q. Contrary
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Sam
Bolt was awesome! I don’t know what you’re talkin’ about…lol.
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Nick T
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Deezy
Up had me misty-eyed in the first ten min, but the very last shot of the movie did me in. It was a beautiful film and deserves all of the recognition it gets!
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Brad Niesmertelny
Up and Coraline are two of the best movies of the year. I’m so glad that all these movies are getting recognized. It would be nice to see 2 animated movies running for best picture. I know Up can do it. People have to get over the fact that animated doesn’t mean kiddie movie.
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Maserda
Ditto on this. ‘Coraline’ was easily very fun and original (button-eyes!) while ‘Up’ really hit the tear-release button. It would be quite a feat of a non-Pixar film won “Best Animated Feature” this year, given the quality and range of animated films that are in the running.
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Maserda
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Dani
These movies all are (or look) fantastic, and I would really like to see some of them get a nod for Best Picture (not just Best Animated Feature). I’m not going to get my hopes up (like I did last year with Wall-E), but I would like to be pleasantly surprised.
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craig
It has got to be Up! Never have I cried in the first few minutes of a film and then again at the end. Not to forget about the great humor, beautiful scenery and fantastic storyline!!
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Sam
Up, Coraline, Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs, Ponyo, and Fantastic Mr. Fox will get the Oscar nomination slots for Best Animated Film…or I mean “should” get the slots. Up will probably take the win, but I must admit this is the first year Pixar has legitimate competition.
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Mary Q. Contrary
True that! I agree with all of your choices for nominees, and I think Pixar definitely has some stiff competition!
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Ryan
Definitely a strong list! Although, I hope Princess and the Frog does well and gets it over Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs. I love 2D animation, so hopefully the movie is a return to form.
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Ryan
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Mary Q. Contrary
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bedc01
Up is indeed a beautiful and touching movie, however, i feel coraline was a tad better, and dont get me wrong, i love both movies but i hope coraline walks away with the oscar for best animated picture.. and hey, UP can still grab a spot on the best picture category
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Sam
I agree with you bedc01, for some reason I’m rooting for the underdog here. Even though Up and Ponyo were amazing and have Oscar history on their side, I think Coraline should take it!
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Sam
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Jason
For me it’s Miyazaki’s Ponyo, which is like bathing in the communal waters of good feelings, hope and optimism.
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Nathan
Forget the Animated Feature category, Up should be a Best Picture nominee, even if there were only 5 slots, just like Wall-E last year.
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Mary Q. Contrary
Up was brilliant. It’s far and away my favorite animated film this year, as well as all time. I’ve had a soft spot in my heart for The Incredibles and Wall-E since I saw each of them, but I’ve never seen a film more adept than Up at moving me to tears and making me laugh in such equal doses. I can’t wait to see Fantastic Mr. Fox, though. It’s promising to be such a treat. Coraline was beautiful, and my husband and I took our kids to see it twice. Gosh, what a year for animation!
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dave
Lisa, you’re definitely winning points in my book for recognizing how amazing animated films can be. I remember you were a big supporter of WALL-E last year as well. I didn’t really realize it until you pointed it out just now that animation has had a really great year. I think so far, my favorite is Up. It was so touching, not to mention very funny too. And the first few minutes were really heartbreaking. Up was one of the best movies I’ve seen all year. But I haven’t seen Fantastic Mr. Fox yet. And if anything can take Up’s place as my favorite, it’s Fox. I loved that book when I was a kid and I’m really excited to see it.
With 10 Best Picture nominees, I really hope that Up can squeeze it’s way in. I’m still upset that WALL-E didn’t make the cut last year.-
Lisa Schwarzbaum
Also great last year: ‘Waltz with Bashir.’ And the year before that: ‘Persepolis.’
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Sam
Waltz with Bashir is one of the Best Animated Films of the decade!
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dave
I actually never got a chance to see Waltz with Bashir, I should put it on my to-do list. But Persepolis was fantastic.
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Sam
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Lisa Schwarzbaum
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Alex
Im rooting 100% for ‘Coraline’ it was eerie, original, gorgeous (from the stop motion to the score) and just flat out entertaining.
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Jackie
Right there with ya, Alex! I LOVED “Coraline”! Not as good as the book (so few things ever are), but it can definitely stand on its own. And as you said, eerie and gorgeous, plus a great story to tell.
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Jackie
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Vina
Up, Coraline, Princess and the Frog, Ponyo, and Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs. Mary and Max might have a shot based on the positive buzz, in which case we boot Ponyo, since the Academy can only seem to handle one prestige title in this category per year.
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Scott
I certainly hope that’s not the case, only Up or Ponyo truly deserve to win.
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Scott
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Jeannie
Coraline was my favorite, can’t wait to see Fantastic Mr. Fox
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Scott
Ponyo!
Up is also one of my favorite films, but Ponyo had me smiling from start to finish. It’s like a child’s imagination personified onscreen.
I hope the list of nominees reads like this: Up, Ponyo, Coraline and the others will (probably) be Fantastic Mr. Fox and Princess and the Frog (if it is good, there’s no doubt Disney will get a nod).
But I hope Ponyo wins! Miyazaki deserves another Oscar! And Pixar has 4 Best Animated Feature winners anyway, it’s not like if Up loses it will hurt their reputation as THE American animation studio.
Go Ponyo!
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David
UP!!!
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Cardcaptor Jim
I refuse to watch any CGI movies because I dislike the look of this type of animation. I’m over 30, so I prefer art drawn by human hands rather than machines. The only compelling stories done with animation are old-fashioned hand drawn films such as WATERSHIP DOWN, THE TRANSFORMERS – THE MOVIE, SPIRITED AWAY, JUNKERS COME HERE and some of the DOT movies like DOT AND THE WHALE.
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Stacie
You’re missing out dude!
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Scott
While I agree traditional hand-drawn animation has a magical quality that CGI can never quite capture, I have to say you’re missing out on some great filmmaking by not seeing Pixar movies just because they are CG.
But on the subject of hand-drawn animation, I suggest you see Ponyo (if you haven’t already). It is from the same director as Spirited Away and it is the first 100% hand-drawn animated film in….a very long time.
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Stacie
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Cole9219
Definitely Up, wuth Coraline in second, and then hopefully Fantstic Mr. Fox.
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Craig
Coralline was way too scary for kids. Ten kids left crying at the screening I was at. I’m not saying it wasn’t good but you have to know your audience.
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Yaya
I totally agree. It’s okay for a kids movie to be scary in parts but I need some sort of relief. I felt Coraline was pretty much hopeless.
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Yaya
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hope
the animation to this one feels weird to me guess i’m not used to it
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warrior6
For me the movie Up, it had me almost crying for the first 15 minutes and at the end. I really loved the story and my kids did too…
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Laura
Its got to be Up this year – the first 10 mins tug at the heartstrings like nothing else. And it completely captured my two and a half year old’s imagination, so much so he demanded to see it at the cinema a second time!
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Sarah El
Up was fabulous and I really look forward to seeing Fantastic Mr. Fox. I honestly wasn’t too impressed by either 9 or Coraline, although 9 was a visual beauty and they were both still pretty good.
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Shakespeare
I dont care what wins the best animation catergory as long as it is not UP! I mean PIXAR is becoming the yankes of that catergory! Switch it up a bit!
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Yaya
Yeah, who cares about quality? it should be about taking turns!
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Yaya
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gigi
I’m probably the only person in America that hasn’t seen up yet. I do plan on purchasing it next week though. Also, I’m so excited for the Princess and the Frog. You can never go wrong with Disney and 2D animation. Should be a great movie!
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C
I love me some Pixar but I’d like to see Coraline win this one.
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Keil Shults
What, no love for Transformers 2: ROFL?
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Keil Shults
Seriously though, has it been determined if a film can be nominated for both Best Picture AND Best Animated Feature? If so, Up will be recognized in both categories. If not, I think Up will run for Best Pic and Coraline or Fantastic Mr. Fox will take home the Animated Feature prize.
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JJ Skittles
How can you predict the Fantastic Mr. Fox as best Animated Feature when it hasn’t been released yet? Do you get a preview screening?
http://www.dinnertopics.com -
dave
Yes, I believe that a film can be nominated for both Best Animated Feature and Best Picture. Same goes for foreign language films. The best example that comes to mind is Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, which was nominated for both Best Foreign Language Film (which it won) and Best Picture.
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JJ Skittles
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tony
i really hope “Up” gets a slot in the best picture category. with the list extending to 10, i dont see a reason why it shouldnt. i NEVER and i mean, NEVER cry at any movie, but “Up” had me all teary eyed with that montage at the beginning. some movies spend 2 hours trying to tell a love story, but “Up” managed to do it in 5 minutes and made it so emotional and real. not to mention, the last shot of that movie was, to say the least, absolutely perfect and it got me choked up all over again. i have seen a lot of movies this year, but “Up” is by far my favorite film of the year.
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'Fantastic Mr. Fox,' fantastic year for animated movies
Owen loves Fantastic Mr. Fox and Disney’s A Christmas Carol, and so do I. And by my count , adding in Coraline, 9, Ponyo, and Up, that makes at least six animated feature films on my short list for best movies of the year.
On a related note, the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences just announced that 20 titles have been submitted for Oscar consideration this year in the category of Best Animated Feature–guaranteeing that, for only the second time in Oscar history, there will be a full five nominees for the award.
I’m less interested in analyzing the tipping-point reasons why 2009 is a golden year for animation than I am in observing how animation in its many forms–hand-drawn, computer-assisted, stop-motion, motion-capture, 3-D, etc.-frees up inventive filmmakers to create original yet universally accessible stories that defy live-action logic and transcend audience demographics .
All by way of saying that Mr. Fox and his animal kingdom, Mr. Scrooge and his ghosts, and the box-headed old guy who hooks up his house to a bunch of balloons and flies south in Up are some of the most memorable characters of 2009. Which leads me to to a couple of questions: For fans, what’s your favorite animated movie this year? And for foes, well, what will it take for me to convince you to give the best pictures of 2009 a try?