Warner Bros' "TMNT" arrived on DVD shelves today.
While the film didn't do too well with either critics or box office patrons, it was still fun and totally worth the $16 bucks you can find it for at some major electronics stores.
Your other option is to go fish 4 turtles out of your local pond, tape ninja weapons to them, and then film the action, hoping that something cool happens.
Trust me... it won't.
According to DVD Active, "TMNT" will hit store shelves in all major formats on August 7th.
According to the site, no details on extras have been announced at this time, but I'm still pretty excited about picking this bad boy up. Like Jessica Simpson, the film was light on substance and heavy on visual beauty, but it was still a kick in the pants to watch.
I'd totally let Jessica Simpson kick me in the pants.
DVD Active's TMNT Details and Box Art
Discuss the TMNT Release on the BP Forums!
The director for Warner Bros' "TMNT" recently sat down for an interview with Animated Views.
AV: Can you think of any of the other rules that Pete had?
KM: Turtles are not interested in girls - at all. Not that I probably would have wanted that anyway, but I mean it’s just a big pet peeve with Pete. It’s like you having a crush on a French poodle. He’s a turtle, and she’s a human. There’d be no crossover, right. So there was that.
That's one of the funniest things I've ever read in an interview, and yet at the same time I now feel dirty for having a crush on my French poodle.
Read the Entire Kevin Munroe Interview at Animated Views
Animation World Network talked with the filmmakers behind "TMNT," and luckily for us, they decided to write their conversation down on paper.
Imagi used Maya, today's default CGI software, with Pixar's RenderMan used for the production pipeline's "back-end." "Maya's front end, its tools to move models, place lights and so on are very interactive, it's what Maya's good at," Wang explains. "What it's not so good at, it doesn't have a great render -- it has a sufficient render.
"What people do when they become higher-end studios, either they write own software like DreamWorks, or they'll buy high-end off the shelf software, which is what we did: Pixar created RenderMan. They keep us a year behind the version they use in-house, but it's pretty cool. We upgraded to it to get the better quality for the Turtles."
That's pretty clever of Pixar to license their software but keep everyone else one version behind. It's the same way that I offer to let all of my friends wear my underpants, but only after I've worn them for a year.
Read the entire article by hitting the link below.
AWN TMNT Article FTW!
It's not a 30%. I'll tell you that right now... dude.
I just got back from a viewing of "TMNT" the movie, and I can tell you, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that this film is not deserving of the 25% it's currently gathered over on Rotten Tomatoes from our friends in the film critic world.
Let me tell you up front that I was a fan of The Turtles "back in the day," but I'm by no means a fanboy. Heck, I'm still not even sure which ones are which, in terms of names and got more than a couple nasty looks tonight when I said things like, "The one with the sword kicked ass!" So you're not getting some delusional review by a guy who slept in turtle PJs as a kid.
With that out of the way, let me tell you that this movie is very good. It's most certainly not great, and that's mainly due to the story, but it's worth the price of admission and a film you should see on the big screen to truly appreciate.
Going into a Weinstein picture, I of course expected art in line with "Hoodwinked," but that's not the case. The character models are awesome, from the Turtles and Splinter right on through to the monsters. The animation is also top notch, and the Turtles are actually a lot of fun to watch as the scramble across the rooftops and fight the various baddies. The scene on the rooftop in the rain near the giant red neon sign is amazing, and worth the price of admission alone.
The plot is where the film stumbles, with it's cliches (stars align to unleash bad things on Earth) and cheesy dialogue, the the script is about as thin as a pizza.
That being said, "TMNT" is a great action flick and a beautiful film to watch. The eye candy makes up for the premise, and if you're even a remote fan of the franchise or a fan of CG films, it's worth your time for sure.
Cowabunga indeed.
Official TMNT Website
TMNT Coverage at IGN
TMNT Reviews at Rotten Tomatoes
IGN has a ton of "TMNT" clips posted right now, including at least one exclusive.
So if you're on the fence about seeing the film, head over to IGN's site and check out some of the clips. I already liked the art style, but I like it even more after seeing some of these clips. While some are much better than others (the jungle scene was awesome, while the clip with the Foot Clan in the office was just okay), overall the film looks great.
The film is currently scoring a 29% overall, but most of the critics agree that it looks great but has no substance. Sort of like Jessica Simpson reading outloud from the Larry the Cable Guy autobiography.
TMNT Clips at IGN
TMNT Reviews at Rotten Tomatoes
Grab a pizza and your sword which you never use to actually kill anyone, and head on down to your local theater today, because "TMNT" is slashing it's way onto movie screens!
Get ready for more shouts of "DUDE!", "COWABUNGA!", and "RIGHTEOUS!" than you can shake a stick at, as well as a burp joke at least once a minute.
In all seriousness, this looks like a fun movie, and a really great art style, so look for me at the theater.
I'll be the one wearing the "Donatello Does Machines Like I Do Hot Chicks" shirt.
Official TMNT Website
Saw this last night while I was watching TV...
In case you're living under a rock and haven't had the opportunity of having someone beat another pointless award show down your throat, "Happy Feet" one for Best Animated Feature Film at this year's Oscars.
It's pretty sad when only one of the nominated animated films this year (Cars) was actually animated and not motion captured, and it's only going to get worse once Hollywood begins to really follow the trend, now that HF has won.
The website for the upcoming "TMNT" film has been updated.
If you ask me, the one thing this site is missing is a healthy dose of dinosaur butt.
See post below.
Official TMNT Website
There is a brand new (HD) trailer for "TMNT" up over on the Apple Quicktime site.
First of all, until I saw this trailer, I had no idea that the Weinstein Company was involved, which scares the turtle turds right out of me.
Second of all, I can already tell that the voices are going to completely ruin this film for me.
It sure looks nice though.
TMNT Trailer on QT
One more from DVD Active today, which is the info for "Happy Feet," hitting store shelves March 27th.
Extras will include two new fully animated sequences (Mumble Meets a Blue Whale and A Happy Feet Moment), a Dance Like a Penguin: Stomp to the Beat feature, two music videos (Gia's Hit Me Up and Prince's The Song of the Heart), and the classic cartoon - I Love to Singa.
And while it isn't region free, it is Whoopi free (see "Everyone's Hero" release post), which is almost as good.
DVD Active's Happy Feet DVD Info
Here's the latest poster for "TMNT."
It's almost like they're staring at you and saying, "Our voice acting will probably annoy the hell out of you." Either that or, "Please don't scratch your name into our shells, you jerkhole."
I was never good at reading turtles facial expressions.
Ain't It Cool News has a handful of screenshots from the upcoming "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" film.
The jury is still out for me on this one, as the art looks superb, but the voice acting seems like it might get really annoying.
Be warned that AICN mentions how the last shot in the series could be a spoiler that you may want to save until you watch the film in theaters. I looked at the last shot and personally had no idea how seeing it spoiled anything for me, but I also was the guy who had no idea that knowing that the Titanic sank would spoil the end of that movie for me as well.
AICN's TMNT FTW BYOB!
Did anyone really see this one coming?
Having not seen the film myself, I can't speak on the quality of the story or art, but it just didn't seem that appealing to me from the previews. Now, according to the latest numbers from Box Office Mojo, I see the film has grossed $99 million so far at the US Box Office.
Is it the singing? Robin Williams? The Penguins? The snow? It's probably the fact that it doesn't star Whoopi Goldberg or Carrot Top, but don't quote me on that.
The simple fact is that CG movies have underperformed this year, at least by the past CG movie standards, and I don't think anyone could have predicted that "Happy Feet" would be the film to break the slump.
Congrats to the entire team at WB for having a huge hit on their hands.
Box Office Mojo's Weekend Box Office Totals
Put on your mittens and grab a bucket of fish, as "Happy Feet" opens today!
The film is scoring pretty well, and currently sits at a 79% overall on Rotten Tomatoes.
Here's an example of one of the good reviews:
Happy Feet is cooler than a penguin's toenails, taking what appears to be a routine animated musical comedy into rewarding, unexpected places. - Colin Covert - Minneapolis Star Tribune
And one of the bad ones:
Even the wee ones may start to notice something's amiss when the movie's theme goes from "be yourself" to 'we must regulate the overfishing of the Antarctic oceans.' No, for real. - Jordan Harper - Village Voice
So I'll leave it up to you. From everything I've read, the film is jammed full of singing and dancing, but then again, what would you expect from a film titled, "Happy Feet."
More Reviews at Rotten Tomatoes
Happy Feet Website
There is an article up on the USA Today site with some notes from the man behind the film, George Miller.
From the article:
Happy Feet uses both computer and stop-motion animation to tell the story of misfit Mumble (voiced by Elijah Wood), whose lack of singing ability hampers his search for a mate. Instead, he has a knack for tap.
I had no idea that stop motion was used. I wonder if there will also be a scene where they film a chicken in the extreme foreground to make it look really huge as it tries to eat the Penguins. I'm not knocking stop motion, I'm simply saying that they should use all of the film tricks the industry has to offer.
George Miller Article on USA Today
