Surprise! This week we do have an episode! And look, FUNNY HATS!

Download audio file (ep128.mp3)

This week M slams though lots of topics, but mostly movies are discussed. If you have an interest in Korean Cinema this is the episode for you. If not, well, uh…this is awkward.

Thanks for waiting a month for us to come back! We need some good long breaks every now and then. Here’s some great games I played in our absence-

• Donkey Kong Country Returns
• Kirby’s Epic Yarn
• Epic Mickey
• Assasin’s Creed II
• Super Meat Boy

And great movies I watched-

• True Grit
• Tron: Legacy
• Evangelion: 1.0 You Are (Not) Alone

I’ve said this before on the podcast, but I’m a huge Tim Schafer fan. I think he’s a visionary if video game storytelling and he’s imaginative as all get out. I also think Christopher Nolan is one of this generations most visionary filmmakers. So what happens when you stick the two together? GENIUS!

Funny how great minds think alike. By the way if you’ve never played Psychonauts you’re missing out. It’s probably the best game you’ve never played. Pick it up on Steam or Xbox Live if you get a chance.

Get ready…..FIGHT!

I just finished tallying up all the wins and losses from this years Oscars. Not that this comes a surprise to anyone that listened to the episode, but Walrus King won. WK guessed 9 awards correctly while I guessed 6. I also noticed some of the movies I went “wild card” with won.

Walrus King correctly guessed:

• Best Documentary: The Cove
• Original Song: Crazy Heart
• Short Film: The New Tenants
• Sound Editing: The Hurt Locker
• Sound Mixing: The Hurt Locker
• Visual Effects: Avatar
• Costume Design: Young Victoria
• Supporting Actress: Mo’Nique
• Supporting Actor: Christoph Waltz

While I correctly guessed:

• Make Up: Star Trek
• Original Score: Up
• Visual Effects: Avatar
• Animated Film: Up
• Leading Actress: Sandra Bullock
• Supporting Actor: Christoph Waltz

So far the only two ideas for the loser are do a video blog dancing or wearing cat ears. Any other suggestions?

HAVE FUN AT NEW MOON!!!!

(Comments are closed to avoid FlameWars)

I have a feeling a lot of people are going to be confused by my pick for number one. It’s not a song and it’s not one of the most iconic moments from the film. However this by far is my favorite scene from the whole movie. This scene is animation, lighting, art direction, set design, and music all working together to make something incredible. Every element is perfectly balanced with each other, and it feels like everyone involved in making this scene were all working together to make something incredible.

Remember all the things I brought up about how great the Oogie dance sequence was? Times that by 8,000,000 in this scene.

The set is incredible. I love when filmmakers animate scenes in sets that are in constant motion (i.e. the ending to any Wallace and Gromit short.) This scene turns Oogies Lair into a circus gone wrong with all his horrible gambling contraptions transforming into outrageous obstacles. The playing cards twirling swords, the black widow spider soup mixer(?) spinning its blades low to the floor, it’s a Rube Goldberg-James Bond Villain trap at its finest. I can’t believe how well they animated the set. The floor is slowly rotating, the blades are spinning like crazy, the characters are interacting with everything, there’s so much going on it’s a blast to watch.

Whoever did the lighting deserves a raise. Seeing Oogies Lair turn from moody darker hues to lighter shades of orange, blue, and purple really makes this scene come to life. I never get tired of it seeing Oogie hit that button and seeing everything go from bad to “holy crap where did this all come from.” There had to be hundreds of tiny stage lights that were placed into every nook and cranny of the set to properly light everything. The lighting gives the final showdown a fun and dangerous atmosphere that still makes me smile to this day.

I freaking LOVE the music in this scene. Danny Eflman did an outstanding job making the score reflect the absolute mayhem happening in the scene. It sounds like a carnival run by demons is rampaging through a city. Elfman also did a fantastic job of have Jack’s theme and Oogie’s theme play off each other. Listen carefully and you’ll hear the themes face off against each other. It’s by far my favorite instrumental track on the CD.

And finally, Oogie’s demise. God I love it so much. My favorite thing about Oogie is he’s not only a disgusting character on the outside, he’s REALLY disgusting on the inside. It makes him easy to hate and hearkens back to old silent movie villains where you could hiss at the screen. I’ll never forget the first time I saw Oogie’s “skin” get ripped off in theaters. My jaw dropped. Keep in mind you don’t know what Oogie Boogie really is the first time you watch the movie. Sure bugs and other horrible things crawl out of him during his dance number but I sure as hell didn’t think he was FILLED with them! His parting lines remind of the Wicked Witch from “The Wizard of Oz.” “My bugs! My bugs!” “I’m melting! I’m melting!” Bad guys at their finest.

By the way be sure to check out the original ending for this scene on your DVD. It truly sucks.

Also a message to anyone uploading movie clips to youtube. I don’t care about your little fake production company opening title thingy. All I want to do is watch the scene. You had nothing to do with the production of the movie so don’t put your name on it.

Well those are my top 5 favorite scene from The Nightmare Before Christmas. I hope you all enjoyed this little countdown. As you can see I really had nothing else to post this week. But enough about me. What are your favorite scenes?

I remember watching this scene for the first time as a child. It was unlike anything I’d ever scene before, and still stays with me as one of the best animated sequences I’ve ever scene in my life. This is Halloween establishes the tone for the rest of the movie and does a damn fine job of doing so. The scene is dark, creepy, fun, exciting, beautiful, and ugly all rolled into one cornucopia of animation. The town is clearly inspired by the works of German expressionist art movement, combined with the childhood sentimentality of Halloween. The song does an astounding job of establishing the world, and is one of the best pieces of music in Danny Elfman’s career if I do say so myself. It’s enjoyable to listen to and has a quality that I haven’t heard in a movie since. What I love most about this scene is getting introduced to all the characters. Each character is unique, each one having their own individual charm. The Mayor, the Wolfman, the guy made of goo, they’re all brilliantly designed and animated. The camera work is also fantastic, with pans and zooms not traditionally seen or attempted in stop motion. I should stop, I could go on all day with this.

Another reason I deeply respect everyone involved with this scene is the sheer number of puppets on screen at once. As I’ve said before in the podcast, I enjoy doing animation and I’m a somewhat competent stop-motion and cell animator. A general rule of thumb is the more characters you have on screen at once, the longer and harder it is to animate. Not only are all the citizens of Halloween Town present for the end of the song, they’re all constantly moving! Not to mention that if there’s a mistake on a single puppet then the whole shot has to be scrapped! How the animators kept their sanity is beyond me.

I’d also like to remind everyone to please chill out. These are just movies. It’s not a contest of whose movie is best, it’s all about sitting back and enjoying the them for what they are.

Now that’s an entrance! Throughout the second act of the Nightmare Before Christmas there’s mention of the infamous Oogie Boogie, a Halloween creature so vile he was banished from the town. The build up to his reveal is done effectively in which we only see his shadow throughout the film, but here he’s fully revealed in one hell of a productions number.

First off the lighting is truly inspired. The “black light” effect adds a level of unease to the scene that only adds to Santa’s horrible predicament. The set design is one of my favorites in movie history. Everything in Oogie’s lair causes pain and torture, but with a Vegas gambling theme, most notably the “one armed bandits.” Oogie is disgusting and there’s not one redeeming quality to his character. I love this because he’s very easy to despise, making him a fun villain. The animation on Oogie is amazing considering his puppet isn’t as flexible as the others, and the animation work on his face is incredible.

Kudos Mr. Selick, this is one hell of a showstopper. Interesting bit of trivia, every scene where Oogie rolls the dice the result is always snake eyes.

Bonus Video! At 4:50 do you see any similarities between these two scenes?

Number 5: Jack’s Graveyard Lament

My pick for number 5 is perhaps one of the most iconic scenes from the entire film. It’s on the movie poster for crying out loud! This scene does a great job of establishing a creepy atmosphere for the graveyard and lighting is used perfectly to give it that moonlit feeling. The song does a great job of setting up the premise for the rest of the movie, and you can tell whoever got the job of animating Jack loved what they did for a living. The set designers did a fantastic job of bringing the German expressionist style to life by creating all the twisted and mishmashed shapes in the scene. And of course there’s the iconic spiral hill that gives Halloween Town it’s trademarked quirkiness. This scene is visuals, sound, and animation all combining to make something fantastic. I love it.

An honorable mention to the Christmas Eve montage for coming in a close 6th.