I don't have much to say about these two movies, other than that they were totally awesome.
I love the Wallace and Grommit shorts, so I had high hopes for the feature-length version, mingled with some fears as to whether the awesomeness could be sustained for that much time. Rest assured, the movie delivers. It's hilarious, and the animation is incredible. How Grommit, who doesn't say a word throughout, can be one the most developed characters, that they can make facial expressions that, well, expressive, with clay-mation just blows my mind. I gained respect for Helena Bonham Carter and Ralph Fiennes, both of whom I actually really like anyhow, but the fact that they added their vocal talents to such a great movie just earned them each another gold star. Another great thing about this movie is that while it's definitely a kid's movie, there are a lot of jokes in it that are for adults only - Disney movies used to do stuff like that, but alas, they seem to have moved away from those sly winks to the parents. Ah well. In any case, Wallace and Grommit: Curse of the Were-Rabbit is a rollicking good time, highly recommended.
Shaolin Soccer is also a blast. It's mostly over-the-top humor and totally outrageous digressions, but it's pure gold. It's as though the people making it threw in whatever crossed their minds, regardless of whether it fit into the plot at all. The jokes are often bizarre, but totally hilarious, and the kung-fu is pretty bad-ass. Though if you're expecting a hard-core kung fu movie, you may be disappointed - this one is more about humor than well-choreographed fight scenes, which isn't to say that there aren't some great kung-fu moments. Wu-tang! One does wish that they'd milked the possibilities of combining kung-fu and soccer a bit more, and thinking back on it, the plot really does seem completely preposterous, but ah well. The movie seems to mostly be a vehicle for jokes, and the jokes are great, so hey, it's a success. Lots of fun.
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