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Robert Downey Jr. and Tiny Fey lend their voices to new Dreamworks Animated flick OOBERMIND!
Ahoy, squirts! Quint here. Usually news of upcoming DREAMWORKS ANIMATED FEATURES don't fill me with giddy anticipation. KUNG FU PANDA was pretty damn good, I kinda liked OVER THE HEDGE... still haven't seen MONSTERS VS. ALIENS, but some of my worst theatrical experiences belong to Dreamwork's Animated dreck.
However, a recent story by Peter Debruge at Hollywood Reporter drops some info on an upcoming Dreamworks Animated picture called OOBERMIND which sounds like it could actually be a good movie. Firstly, the story doesn't sound like the typical cutesy plot. It's about a super-villain whose life becomes dull after he takes out his super-hero rival. That's just a seed, obviously, but it's an interesting idea.
On top of that, they've locked in Robert Downey Jr. to voice said super villain and Tina Fey is also onboard in an unknown role.
Hopefully the end product will be a fun flick that can engage more than just the sub-five year olds in the audience. Thoughts?
-Quint
quint@aintitcool.com
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Hey Quint what is your take on Madagascar. I thought that was pretty good. Isn't that Dreamworks?
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i bet she'll either be his right hand gal or she'll be his annoying but cute daughter who ruins everything.
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Ever since 3D animation bacame the hot new thing, animated movies feel more like sitcoms than movies. I love Pixar, but I sure do miss the epic grandeur of films like The Lion King and Beauty and the Beast.
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The story that Robert Downey Jr. would be voicing the lead in an animated movie by Ben Stiller about a supervillain who suffers an existential crisis after killing his nemesis has been all over the Internet since like October. Although I didn't know Tina Fey was involved. That's cool, I guess, although I don't really see either of them as voice actors.
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Pretty much. It sounds like an Incredibles spin-off. Stupid dreamworks. Kung Fu Panda was 6/10. I couldn't watch it again for at least two years.
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More like Myazaki. Not cutesy but still suitable for kids.
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You're right that it kind of does sound like that, but personally, I wouldn't underestimate anything by Ben Stiller right off the bat. I've liked almost everything he's directed, with the exception of maybe 'The Cable Guy.'
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George Takei doesn't like that nickname, Quint!
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May 28, 2009 7:10:46 AM CDT
At least we're moving past the "Farting CGI Animal" fad
by nasty in the pasty
Aside from Ice Age 3, I can't thing of onr FCGIA movie coming out this year...and that's GREAT.
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Stiller doesn't have that comedy lust he once had. I reckon he'll do a Bee Movie-type job with this. Cable Guy wasn't as bad as everyone thinks. It's just a bigger target cause carrey's in it.
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May 28, 2009 7:15:26 AM CDT
Frank Welker on casting celebrities for animated movies:
by derlanghaarige
"I can’t blame the studios for going there and I totally understand celebs for wanting to come into our our world. Their kids could care less if they work with Brad [Pitt] and [Angelina] Jolie, but when they tell their little ones they are going to be a barnacle on SpongeBob SquarePants they become heroes. The only thing that does bother me is when we are not being asked to audition, then we are unable to compete. As long as we have a chance to read for the same roles, not a problem, but a lot of time we are overlooked by the studio or director looking for a name. Don’t get me wrong, these folks are actors so it’s not like they can’t do the job and sometimes the casting is inspired. It’s just when I walk into a session and the director says “guess who I got to play Bill the talking bottle?” …they are more impressed by whom they got than who might be the best for the part."
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John Lithgow & Bryan Cranston - actors like that should be cast in these movies. Real actors. Not flippin Stiller & Downey. Bah!
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That's got hit written all over it. Not! They're not even competing with Pixar anymore. Reminds me of Don Bluth Studios vs Disney.
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The man is brilliant. An animated film that cast folks like Frank Welker and Billy West in every roll would get my money, and would excite me. Welker's Freddie Jones remains super awesome. And I think he's the only Scooby actor to do every film version of his character (not including live action or a pup named Scooby Doo). Welker rocks so hard.
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N.I.M.H. Everything else was just kind of "meh", even the stuff (An American Tail) that did better at the box office than N.I.M.H.
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Interesting analogy. Don Bluth directed some really amazing shite, some rather mediocre movies and a select few very good ones. That does fit my opinion on Dreamworks' output. Though to be fair to Bluth, he was never quite as predictably derivative as Dreamworks, who've very rarely done a film that wasn't just a twist version of a Pixar flick (and yes, OOBERMAN sounds to be exactly in this category).
I continue to be amazed that Dreamworks' best movies are their first two, PRINCE OF EGYPT and ANTZ (notwithstanding the fact that one is a virtual remake and the other a vindictive potshot against A BUG'S LIFE in origin). I thought OVER THE HEDGE was decent, but its main character dynamic was lifted directly from TOY STORY, without all the depth. I also liked KUNG FU PANDA, though I didn't go nuts over it as some people did (I guess because I don't have any kung fu nostalgia). -
(And also because I'm not fat. I wouldn't be surprised if there was some wishful thinking / wish-fulfillment fantasy to the admiration of the obese slacker who defeats the physically superior opponent not by being smarter, but by virtue of being "destined for greatness" -- and fat.)
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Only that I heard it first on most of your rival sites LIKE A MONTH AGO!
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There is a roleplaying game called Necessary Evil. It is a tabletop superpowers RPG where the players all play supervillains who killed off all the heroes. An alien invasion starts, which leaves the characters free to react in whatever supervillainous way you might want to in such a circumstance.
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This initially made me think of an animated version of Whedon's Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog. Also, a bit of Wanted. The comic that is and not the movie which barely resembled the comic.
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Stories, not stars, please. Enough marquee name voice talent...and since I'm grumpy this morning - WHY IS THERE NEVER A BREAKING BAD TALKBACK IN CO-AXIAL?? Superb show.
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...I have taken Captain Amazing out... of the picture!
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Which is not a good way to inspire interest, because Wanted was fucking terrible. I don't really read comics so I guess it could have been original, but it was as obnoxious and pointless as a Palahniuk novel. Supervillains can be more interesting than the heroes, but we always end up with some sort of 'twist' on the concept of the bad guy winning. I kinda doubt a Dreamworks animation will lead to any sort of interesting discourse about being a bad guy.
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It's already been almost two entire years... get moving Dreamworks!
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but yes fuck it...not even a year old yet? reboot anyway. :P
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Also starring Ed Bagley Jr, Megan Fox, and Zach Braff as Poochy, the lovable sidekick who is a talking mini-dragon that farts fire and ends every sentence with "Who let the dogs out!"
CAN'T WAIT! -
At least TRY to make an effort, Dreamworks. Compete or quit the game.
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Given the source material. And it's the only film for which Ben Folds has composed and performed all new songs, which worked brilliantly, by the way.
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Had the story been about how deep in development hell this project has been.
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Was a great idea that Dreamworks managed to turn into a...decent (I wish I had italics) movie. This thing, on the other hand, I think to anyone who is vaguely interested in comics sounds pretty banal. It's going to be hammpered by DWA's need to satisfy its core kiddie fanbase. I'd be much more excited about this idea in the hands of a studio like Laika who might be willing to go PG-13 with it and have some real fun. Kung Fu Panda was a great popcorn flick with kiddie appeal, but it's looking like it may have been a fluke, The Lilo and Stitch that comes between Craplantis: The Lost Crappire and Treasure Crapplanet.
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I didn't like the movie Wanted either, but the comic was a fun read. The comic dealt with a league of super-villians who had worked together to kill off all heroes instead of the fraternity of assassins in the movie.
I agree with you about doubting Dreamworks would have any kind of interesting discourse about being a bad guy. I wouldn't be surprised that when the movie comes out it's been changed that he defeated the hero instead of kill him. That and probably by the end of the movie he'll have some kind of epithany like the grinch and become good. -
May 28, 2009 12:24:18 PM CDT
I don't know about Oobermind but How to train your dragon will b
by toowhippy
that's what I've heard.
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And then "Uberman"...but was changed for sounding too Nazi... And from what I've heard has gone from a "Wall-E"-ish production design to something closer to steampunk.
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Really wasn't that bad. I took my 8 year old and we had a blast. The story was kind of meh, but the animation was cool and the 3-D was insanely awesome. I don't know, it wasn't the greatest movie ever, but we sure laughed a lot. It was better than what Shrek has become.
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Yes maybe they are ripping off the Incredibles. That's not really a bad thing since the Incredibles is fucking awesome.
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Way to stay current.
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It's a very underrated film with great animation and voice performances.
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The movie about the MSNBC guy?
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Here's a few reasons why this is a bad idea....
* People are getting bored with the superhero flicks....
i.e. WATCHMEN was every comic aficionados cream dream and look where it left you....Empty....So let's stop visiting this material, unless your audience is like you said, "5 year olds." In that case, my boner is erect for childish antics....However, it's still a shameless cheap buck.
* I like Robert Downey Jr. and I don't to see him become a flaccid canvas of what I'd come to expect from the likes of him. There are plenty of Will Smiths and Hugh Jackmans to fill these roles....
Remember Osmosis Jones.
Also, the pitch for this flick was done by an executive....
How do I know, it smells of sharted bathroom fodder one can only muster up after doing a line of blow on the can while getting the ol' knob polished.
WHERE THE FUCK IS KURT RUSSELL?
- DANGER HAVOK -
Jesus Hopped Up Christ on a fucking carousel, does EVERYTHING have to be dumbed down? Yeah, I got the message that it was changed due to Nazi connotations or some such horseshit, but can't they change the title to, oh, I don't know, an actual WORD? Oh, and I fucking wish Tina Fey was a porn star. That would make my day.
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Left me feeling pumped the fuck up. Like I wanted to tear down the world and paint over it. So motherfucking there.
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Downey and Fey together! come on...this has to be good. They are both too smart to sign up if it was not going to be good.
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...but some of the ***BIG NAME CELEBRITY!!!*** voice casting stuck out like a sore thumb. Val Kilmer was a fine Moses, and Ralph Fiennes was a superb Pharaoh, but...Sanda Bullock? Jeff Goldblum? Dreamworks spent millions creating a lavishly convincing recreation of the past, and jammed the voice cast with quirky, CONTEMPORARY-sounding actors? Also, for a film that studiously avoided the usual comic relief sidekick characters, why were Pharaoh's two henchmen voiced by Steve Martin and Martin Short? What's the point? It really killed the experience when my brother leaned over at one point in the theater and muttered, "Dude, that's *totally* Jeff Goldblum...!" The celeb casting worked for Antz because that was a much looser, funnier movie, and the celeb VAs actually ACTED the hell out of that film (maybe Gene Hackman's last great performance).
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is that it doesn't matter how hung over you look when you come in to do voicework.
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Apparently, from 2010 on, DreamWorks will be releasing 3 (yes, three) movies a year. Talk about overkill. They're oversaturating the market.
I guess their way of thinking is: If we make as many movies as possible, maybe one of them will be as good as Pixar. Well, I'd rather have one quality Pixar movie rather than three mediocre ones. Although Pixar will be releasing two movies in 2011, but I don't know if that's a one-time exception or if that's going to be a future rule. I don't know if they're planning on doubling their work load. I suppose one from Pixar and one from Disney a year is good enough. Plus, they have other animated projects like Robert Zemeckis's A Christmas Carol. -
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