Well the staff here at GEEK HEADQUARTERS finally scored passes to an advanced screening of ANTZ today and we'll be seeing it in a week, but New Yorkers were more lucky and Milhous files his report with us to pass on to animation geeks on the net. I'm soooooo jealous!!

*** MILHOUS ATTENDS SNEAK PREVIEW OF "ANTZ" ***

Last night (9/16/98) my friends and I attended a sneak preview of "ANTZ" in Manhattan. It was not a test screening; in fact, none of the DreamWorks staff even asked us what we thought of the film. Instead, they merely asked the audience to tell our friends about it if we liked it.

It was called "a work in progress" -- in other words, this was not the final version of "ANTZ." I can understand that because the soundtrack we heard consisted largely of theme music from countless other films, like Apollo 13, Star Trek: First Contact, Empire Strikes Back, and others. They'll probably change all that in the "final" version.

They also didn't show any credits whatsoever, which was kind of weird.

Before showing the film they treated us to a five-minute "behind-the-scenes" type of thing about how the computer-generated effects were created. There was no sound or narration to it. The audience kind of laughed at it... I don't think we got a lot out of it.

But anyway, then they started to show the film, and I was very impressed. It held my interest for the hour and a half it lasted, and I think it will go over very well with both kids and adults. Remember -- this is DreamWorks, not Disney, so although it's the kind of movie kids will really like, it is as much geared toward grown-ups as it is for kids.

The effects, as you already know, are dazzling and the plot has depth. It really gives you some good ideas to chew on, both while you're watching the film and afterwards. A number of stars lent their "vocal talents" to this production, and my favorites were Christopher Walken and Sylvester Stallone -- they really were the perfect voices for their characters. And it's a very funny flick -- at certain points the audience was howling with laughter and stamping their feet. Chalk that up to clever screenwriting as well as occasional raunchiness.

In short, I think everyone will like this film. It's definitely worth your time. The only problem is, I don't know if I'll ever quite enjoy incinerating ants with a magnifying glass again...

- Milhous