SUPERBAD

Just a little drawing i did of Seth & Evan while watching Superbad. I think they look close enough to their real life counter-parts.

Top Ten Christmas Movies/ Specials

By: Rob Tari

1. A CHARLIE BROWN CHRISTMAS (1965)

Christmas doesn't start until this airs on TV. Charles Shultz's classic tops my list of the best Christmas movies/ Specials. The voice acting might not be the most inspired (its kids for cryin' out loud) and the animation might be choppy and flat, but the story and meaning still sustain 42 years after its initial release. Vince Guaraldi's fabulous score is also something to be reconized. The jazzy undertone of the show is so upbeat and cool I even play it throughout the year.

Why I like it: Its the only special that actually tells the viewer the true meaning of Christmas. Linus in the midst of all the chaos interrupts and recites a passage from the bible depicting Christ's birth.

2. DR.SEUSS' HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS (1966)

Mix the greatest storybook ever written with Chuck Jones, one of the greatest animation master's ever and you get one hell of an end result. The Grinch is probably the best animated and best Christmas story ever told. With the unforgetable song "You're a mean one Mr. Grinch" and the beautiful animation on the grinch's movements and expressions, this is something few people have ever topped.

Why I like it: Well obviously the animation is kick ass, but I like the fact that this is a completely original idea that dosent fall into the average 'chessey' christmas special section, it stands on its own.

3. ELF (2003)

Elf is the best thing to happen to Christmas cinema since Home Alone. The film works because it takes it self seriously. Director Jon Favreau doesn't dumb down to a 'kid' level to tell his story, he tells a truly heart-warming and very funny story about an elf trying to find his real father.

Why I like it: Will Ferrell's performance. Ferrell is a great character actor and he created a totally original character that captured your heart.

4. HOME ALONE (1990)

Ok everyone's seen this movie, I had the privlidge to see this in theatres, i was only 4 at the time, but I still fell in love with the absolute fun of this film. Like Elf, this is a totally original that has surprisingly very little to do with Christmas. The holiday is more of a setting than a plot point, but the concept and execution are still fantastic.

Why I like it: The final 15 mintues of the film is still some of the funniest scenes in movie history to this day.

5. TIM BURTON'S THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS (1993)

Ok, yes I know this was placed at #1 on my Halloween list, but I feel like this is more of a Halloween movie for me. I always watch this around Halloween more than I do than at Christmas. I dont know why but I do. Neverless, its still a great Christmas with some of the greatest stop motion animation in film history.

Why I like It: It still has one of the most zaniest plots in movie history, which adds to appeal. Also the meaning rings true today as it did 15 years ago, you shouldn't try to be something you are not, I know of a few people that should take that advice to heart.

6. RUDOLPH: THE RED NOSED REINDEER (1964)

The animation may be primative to today's standards, and the dialouge is the cheese, but you can't resist watching this every year its on. Rudolph is still one of the most colorfull, visually stunning and funnest specials to watch.

Why I like it: I love the look of this film, the sets, the character designs, and especially Burl Ive's Sam the snowman narrator.

7. THE SANTA CLAUSE (1994)

Tim Allen's best role aside of Buzz Lightyear. Much like Elf and Home Alone this film is another example of a great story and one that takes it self seriously. Or should I say did, have you seen Santa Clause 2 & 3? (shudder) But this film is a rare gem and still ranks as one 0f Christmas' highest grossing film's of all-time, and deservingly so.

Why I like it: The cool design of the North Pole still hasnt been topped.

8. TOY STORY (1995)

Okay, I know what your thinking, how can Rob rank his favorite movie of all-time at #8? We'll to be fair this really isn't a Christmas film. Yes there is a little Christmas scene in the final two mintues of the film, but thats not why its on my list. Not only did this film come out during the '95 Chrismtas season, its about Toys! Toys are just as accoiated with Christmas as Santa is.

Why I like it: Do I really have to tell you?

9. GREMLINS (1983)

Yes! It made the list. The most violent family Christmas movie ever made. Like Home Alone this film uses Christmas as a backdrop rather than a story point, but its set during Christmas so it makes the cut. The robotics used for Gizmo and the rest of the Gremlins is are kinda old fashioned now, but I still fall in love with them each time I watch it, so they did something right I guess.

Why I like it: Gremlins take over the town, what;s not to like?

10. DR. SEUSS'S HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS (2000)

I'm sure I gonna get some flack for putting this on the list, but I really like this film. I do agree it dosen't match the cartoon version's charm or spark, but this was a great film by itself. Jim Carrey's performance was top notch, he was born to play this role. He should have gotten an Oscar nomination for this picture.

Why I like it: The film took Seuss' drawing s and brought them to live so beatifully, the set design is still something to marvel at.

JUST SOME SKETHES I DID, YOU KNOW KEEPING BUSY

Spider-Man

This is a sketch I did that I really liked and ended up coloring in illustrator, which for those who know me is a rare thing. I hardly ever spend the time to colour in my sketches. Actually the background webs is just the actual sketch i scanned in, but I just inverted the colors and got a surprisingly cool outcome.

ZIP ZERVICE

THIS IS MY IDEA OF A 50's STYLE AD FOR A SPACE FAST FOOD JOINT.

ITS A JUNGLE OUT THERE!

COMMENCE PLAN 10!!!!

THIS IS JUST A LITTLE DIGITAL PIECE I DID WHILE I WATCHED ED WOOD, BUT I'VE COME TO REALLY LIKE IT.

HALLOWEEN KIDS
JUDE THE VAMPIRE
FRISCO THE CAT
CHARLIE
KIRA
TABITHA THE WITCH
TABITHA THE WITCH

THE SIMPSONS MOVIE

Well..... It's been 18 years and it's finally hear. In my entire life I never heard more speculation about something than the possibility of a Simpson movie. It was like every year I was hearing that it was gonna happen, and I was skeptical about this time too, but here we are, and man was it worth the wait.

Now I'm not saying this is the best movie ever, it's not. But it is a great movie, one of the best of the year and a great addition to the Simpson's legacy.

The film was the funniest thing I'd seen all year, I think this may even top Knocked Up as the funniest movie of the year, even though they are totally different styles of humor, I laughed uncontrollably throughout this entire film. The story was really good and also in some places heart wrenching. From Bart being so fed up with Homer's bad parenting once and for all, to the most serious marriage problem between Homer and Marge in the history of the series, this was a truly touching story about family and what it means to be a parent and a spouse.

And did I mention this film was hilarious?

The animation was really nice too, nothing spectacular like Ratatouille, but it was more polished than the regular series animation. I was still amazed how much of this film was sent out to Korea, if you wait until the end of the credits you'll see like 2 minutes of Korean names. Lol.

The film, as great as it was, still couldn't top the emotion I felt being there that night. If anything other than Toy Story has impacted my life it's The Simpsons. As I grew up, everyone from my friends to my family would quote lines from the show at random, and everyone knew what they were talking about, and laugh. It was such a international thing that it became part of our lives. I bet everyone in the world knows who Homer Simpson is and has said D'oh atleast once. That night everyone in that theatre was a Simpson fan and grew up watching that show and was excited to see that movie. I mean they've been around for 18 years, Bart's practically our brother. As the film began and the clouds parted and the Simpsons logo came on screen as it had for 18 years ,the theatre erupted in applause and cheers. Nothing will ever top the feeling of seeing them on the big screen with that many people laughing hysterically along with me. Nothing!

I give THE SIMPSONS MOVIE

5 D'oh's outta 5

Best and Worst of 2007 So Far.

Best Films of 2007 so far

Ratatouille

Spider-Man 3

Harry Potter and the Order of the Pheonix

Knocked Up

300

Reno 911: Miami

The Worst Films of 2007 so far:

Pirates of the Carribean: At World's End

Shrek the Third

TMNT

Zodiac

Smokin' Aces

The Invisible

Best Song of 2007 so far.

Icky Thump - White Stripes

Worst Song of 2007 so far:

Girlfriend - Avril Lavigne

RATATOUILLE

What a movie! Pixar and Brad Bird are like hamburgers and french fries, they just work. Ratatouille is the studio and director's second film together, and although "Rat" falls a bit short of their first film together "The Incredibles", it is still one of the best animated films I've seen since....well...The Incredibles.

Like Toy Story, I think this is a film that Walt Disney would have really enjoyed. When I watched it I couldn't help but think of Pinocchio or Dumbo. The whole idea of The rat and the human working together is so 1940's. This film is also another milestone in how far CG has really come, the character rigs were so well put together it looked as if the characters were hand drawn rather than digital. Finally CG has proven that it could at least mimic the animation style of 2D animation. The fur and cloth was another area where the geniuses at pixar really cranked it up a notch, the fur and hair was much more pliable this time rather than on The Incredibles or Monsters, Inc, it looked as if the animators had more freedom with it's movements.

The story was very well told and totally ADULT. And when I say that I don't mean they were vulgar or sexual, it just wasn't dumbed down to what other studios like to call a "kid's level". I do have to say some of the kids in the theatre were finding it hard to sit in their seats, during the dialogue scenes, but that's because it was over there heads. I applaud Pixar for making films, and not having to worry about if kids could sit through it. I know children that can't sit through Snow White, what does that show you?

The voice acting was amazing. Patton Oswalt was a great choice for Remy, he had such a great energy in his voice, I loved every moment he was on screen. Lou Romano, who is a story artist at Pixar was actually pretty good as Linguni, he was kinda uncomfortable to hear in some scenes, but overall his performance was good. Another Pixar employee Peter Sohn, voiced Remy's brother Emile. He was a great choice, his voice was so perfect for the mouse it seemed as if the mouse was actually talking, not mouthing the words to the actor's voice. Like the raccoon was in "Over the Hedge" with Bruce Willis' voice. Peter O' Toole was fantastic as Anton Ego, give this guy a freaking Oscar already! Even as a voice actor he is brilliant, but the real scene stealer was Ian Holm as Skinner. This was the best example of a classic Disney villains, he reminded me of Peg leg Pete or Captain Hook. His energy was just great and over the top, especially the fact that his character is like three feet tall. Other great performances to note were from Jeanene Garofolo as Colette who put on a surprisingly good French accent, Brain Dennehy as Remy's father and the always great Brad Garret as Chef Gustaeu.

The animation was to die for. Every animator stuck in a rut looking for inspiration GO WATCH RATATOUILLE! After coming out of that place I was racing home to animate. The way they moved the characters was literally unlike anything I've seen in animation. This is the one area where they topped The Incredibles. They way the characters moved with squash and stretch was definite proof that 3D can be an art form rather than a way to make quick and cheap crappy animation. The facial expressions were really what stole the show, Remy the rat was so expressive, especially the fact that he was silent for much of the scenes, you really felt what he was thinking. One scene in particular where Remy accidentally falls into the kitchen and tries to run out to the window back to safety but keeps stopping to put more ingredients in a soup. When he stops each time, you see him thinking of what he needs to put in the soup, a beautiful piece of character animation. This scene is part of the nine minute clip available on the Internet, I recommend every animator check it out.

All in all this was a great animated film, not the best ever, but certainly one of Pixar's best. Brad Bird has certainly proven that he is a great director and worthy of Walt Disney or John Lasseter status. Ratatouille is the best film of the summer by far and as it looks maybe even the best of the year. Brad Bird keep making films with Pixar and Pixar keep making films with Brad Bird. Together you are unstopable.

5 outta 5

NEW STUFF

Pirates of the Caribbean:

At World's End

After the tremendous effort made on Dead Man's Chest I was looking forward to seeing the final chapter of the Pirates saga. Only this wasn't what I was expecting. If Dead man's Chest is Pirates' 'Empire Strikes Back', At World's End is definitely 'The Phantom Menace.' of the saga. The only thing is I kinda like Phantom Menace. I didn't like At World's End.

WHAT A PIECE OF GARBAGE!!!!!

Now I know you saying, Rob is the guy that praised Spider-Man 3, which is still a far better movie than At World's End by the way, why should I trust him. You probably shouldn't, but I love movies more than Roger Ebert himself, but I love characters more. Granted Jack Sparrow is the Luke Skywalker of this generation, I agree with that, but a character is only good as his/her character arc. I thought Sparrow's would come to a successful end, but man was I wrong. Sparrow ends the saga the same way he entered, a selfish pirate. I thought that was great, for an opening, but to really care for a character they gotta be surprising and go through an evolution, Sparrow stays relatively the same since Pirates 1. But surprisingly Sparrow is still the best part of this film, shows how little the film has to offer.

Unless your fluent in 18th century English, or pirate scuffle, you'll get lost in the dialogue, and ofter lose your place. And its not like the writer's or directors help you out, no they leave you behind to hopefully catch up and find your way. The scenes are often long an boring, leaving me anyhow looking at my watch. Serioulsy, that's not a joke.

The acting was cheese except for Johnny Depp and Geffory Rush. They were the best parts of the film, to bad they had such a drab script to carry. Orlando Bloom was so tacked on and flat as always, and Kira Knightley was just ok, but still hot...so shes ok in my books. LOL. The Pirate Lord's were kinda boring, because they didn't really do much. And would it hurt ILM to make on at least a cool creature character? Come on.

The effects were solid and the action scenes were ok, not at all as fun as Dead Man's Chest. Davey Jones had a cool little storyline with the weird Voodoo chick that could have been cool if it only was better fleshed out. I won't spoil it so I'll stop there, but technically he was done very well, again.

The story had a weird vibe too it. It was much darker and violent than the past two. Now Dead Man's Chest was dark to, but it was fun also. This time around I didn't really feel it.

overall a big letdown, but it will still make zillions of dollars, hopefully won't beat Spider-Man 3's record setting opening on account that it is more deserving than this trash.

2 out of 5

And that's mostly because of Johnny Depp and ILM.

These are three main characters for a story I'm thinking of. Just a few sketches to start thinking of clothing options. The story is set in the year 3000 so I thought I'd have to make them look different from today a bit, but still pleasing to the eyes.

Any cool clothing refernces that you know of could help me out a lot.

ANOTHER STUDY OF MY CHARACTER OF ZAK

ROUGH BLUE LINE DRAWING

FINISHED INK DRAWING

CLAIRE & PETER FROM "HEROES"

MORE HEROES COMING SOON

SPIDER-MAN 3

All I can say is SCREW ALL YOU REVIEWERS!

All I kept hearing from people is how Spider-Man 3 was not as good as they thought, but it was better and more than I thought it would be. I have not been so sure that I loved a film so much right after seeing it since Toy Story. I loved both Spider-man and Spider-man 2, but this totally exceeded my expectations. Maybe the not so good reviews lowered my expectations, but I totally loved this film, and here's why.

First the hot button, the over stuffing of the cast, everyone thinks there's too many villains and too many plot points, I couldn't disagree more. I'm not saying that this was the only possible way to do this storyline, but Sam Raimi did it very well. The way he made Peter a little more ego-tistic in this film was so perfect. He didn't come out and be all "I'm the best", no, he was just a little bit too amazed at how much the city loves him and he embraced it a little too much. The black suit was also done well, Peter was a guy that if he was told he was being an ass he would stop faster than he can spin a web. The black suit took him to a place that he couldn't come back from. Evil Peter was also fun to watch, he had his share of ass-ness, but mostly he was just Peter to the max. Everyone is expecting Peter to turn all evil like Eddie Brock, but the black suit doesn't change you, it enhances your aggression and cancels out your inhibitions. Deep down Peter is still a nerd, so it made him more nerdy, but more of a confident nerd. I love the role Gwen Stacy played, she was used by black-Peter to get MJ jealous, but she wasn't a home wrecker she actually felt bad that she was used to make MJ jealous.

The whole Harry and Peter story was told well, I don't wanna spoil anything but it really takes unexpected turns. Flint Marko a.k.a. Sandman was done very well, in the comics he was a thug that got his DNA mixed with sand and that's it, in this film hes more than that, He's a caring divorced father that made some bad choices in the past to help his sick daughter. The whole storyline of him actually being the killer of uncle Ben may get some fans mad, but I think the way Raimi worked it out very well, it made Peter more angry and fueled his rage. Eddie Brock was one of my favorite characters of the film, for a character that seems like he's in it for a small portion has actually got some major screen time, and is very amusing to watch. Venom is just a feast for the eyes, very well done, every fan should rejoice.

The acting was top notch, Tobey Maguire did an amazing Peter and a more amazing Bad Peter. You can tell he had fun with this side of Peter. Kirsten Dunst really did well as MJ, making you feel for her when you realize Peter really isn't there for her. James Franco did his best portrayal as Harry yet, and not to reveal spoilers I'll leave it at that. Topher Grace was SOOOOOOOOOOO good as Eddie Brock, totally blowing away any doubts about him pulling it off. He really was fun. Thomas Hayden Church was a great Sandman, not only did he look the part, he actually brought a sincere honesty to the character. Bryce Dallas Howard did a great job as Gwen Stacy, and she looked and acted so beautifully. All the regulars were back, Rosemary Harris did a great job as Peter's moral support Aunt May. J.K Simmons did a hilarious job as J. Jonah Jamenssen again, and Bruce Campbell did a great job in his re-accuring cameo. I'm not saying who he plays, but its his best cameo yet.

Sam Raimi, this man has brought Spider-man to a whole new level and keeps doing it in this film. His storytelling is so good, and in this film its almost flawless. Part one and two both had some pacing issues, but this was just perfect. There was enough spidey action to please fans, but he never lets us forget that this is Peter's story, not Spider-man. When I watched this film I thought, this is a man that loves this character and did him justice again. The film was again very well shot, there were a number of Sam Raimi shots that were classic Sam Raimi, but also some new techniques that I found very interesting.

The FX were to die for. Best Visual Effects Oscar right now, I don't know how Pirates will top this. The fight scenes were so cool, it felt like a real comic book come to life. The sandman scenes were just genius, after taking particle effects and dynamics in maya, I know how hard that is to do, and boy did they raise the bar. Venom was very well done too, he really looked like Todd Macfarlene's drawings, I was very impressed.

One thing I was afraid of was the absence of Danny Elfman, my favorite film composer of all-time. But the new guy Christopher Young did a good job filling in his big shoes and stayed true to Elfman's tone of the film. He kept the Spider-man theme the same, but created a great new theme for the black suit Spider-man, which sounds very Incredibles-ish) and chillin but catching new themes for Sandman and Venom.

All in all this film was one of the most enjoyable films I've ever seen, I stood in line for 2 hours, and it was well spent. I also was lucky enough to see it with a great crowd that was very applause-happy. I left the theater very entertained and inspired. Inspired to one day make films that younger generations will wait in line for two hours to see in great anticipation as I was tonight, hopefully I'll deliver like Spider-Man 3 did.

5 out of 5

HIRO & ANDO FROM "HEROES"

MORE "HEROES" CAST COMING EVERY WEEK OR SO.

HE'S COMING BACK

5 DAYS AND COUNTING

NEW STUFF

HE'S COMING BACK:

11 DAYS AND COUNTING

SCHOOL'S OUT FOREVER!!

Three years, and it went by soo quickly.

I can't even begin to tell you how fun these past three year were, I met so many great and talented people during my time in the Seneca Animation Program. I learned so much from them, how to get an idea across, staging, acting principles, drawing skills, how to use a software like maya (Frankie that especially means you).........the list goes on. Everyone in this picture, and even those who weren't featured mean so much to me, you've all changed my life and made me a better animator. I find it hard to believe that I'll forget you guys, when you spend hours like 8am-midnight 7 days a week for three years with people it's kinda hard to forget them. One day I hope we all meet again and maybe even become colleagues in the workforce.

Thanks to all and best of luck in the future!

HE'S COMING BACK

18 DAYS AND COUNTING

HE'S COMING BACK

24 DAYS AND COUNTING