There may be that element, but I also really love the circus animals. Especially Vitaly. 
But I liked the first one okay. I can enjoy it, but I don’t really like it. idk. The second one is down with Shark Tale and Bee Movie for me honestly.
What do you mean by second one?
She means Madagascar 2.
It took me three attempts to actually watch Madagascar 2. I kept getting bored and stopped paying attention. I think that the bit at the start of the film with the penguins and the airplane is the highlight of the movie, really. I think I liked it better than the first one though.
I think it’s quite funny that all three films are called Madagascar even though they left the island at the start of the second movie.
It isn’t easy to watch. It is very boring, and reminded me of the Lion King, in a bad way. Probably a coincidence. I actually like the first better than the second.
That’s true. They do barely show it at the beginning of 2, and perhaps some of it appears in 3?
Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa kind of reminds me of the first one but with much less of a reason for them to struggle. Whereas things were constantly moving along in the first one, they seem to mostly just have problems of not fitting their stereotypes in that one. That could be okay, but they don’t seem to do much about it. Also the randomly sudden Melman/Gloria thing felt off and unnecessary. And yeah, I did notice some play-offs of The Lion King, which was probably not a very good idea. Maybe the animals just seemed to random in this one whereas it wasn’t so bad in the first one and could be decently funny at times. The third looks better than both of them to me, though. The clips from the internet were making me laugh. 
Winnie-The-Pooh: A+++
What an awesome movie. There are no words to describe the epicosity of this motion picture. It’s tragic that this movie wasn’t longer and was forced against HP7: Part 2. MOAR POOH NOW. SO MANY FEELS. If this is the last Disney 2D movie for a while, I’m not complaining.
EJE: Well, you’ve probably seen the Chuck Jones/Tex Avery-style animation of the first (did you watch the second?), but the third takes it to a whole new level (Look out for France McDormand’s DuBois, a supercop crazier than Tommy Lee Jones’ marshal from The Fugitive).
IV and Leirin: I didn’t like the second that much either, but the first was memorable cos’ I watched it with my siblings in theatres and we couldn’t stop playing Sacha Baron Cohen’s cover of “Move It”. The third is the best, imo.
LQstudiesPixar - I’d say the colour palette is the richest in the third, look out for the “Fireworks” sequence (or look it up on youtube). I’m glad I caught it in 3-D, cos it was absolutely tripping. And as I’ll describe in Nausicaa’s reply down below, I too felt that there was poor pacing in the second. But in the grand scheme of movie things, yeeeahhh, I’d put it in the “Fun to watch repeatedly” box (where I put Cars, Wreck-It-Ralph and Rio) rather than the “Magnificent to savour once-in-a-while” box (Rango, Ratatouille and Legend Of The Guardians).
SoA: Yeah, it is good by “relativity”. I liked it a lot on its own mainly due to Vitaly and Stefano’s arc. Alex and Ghia’s subplot felt a lot like [spoil]Flik and Princess Atta’s from A Bug’s Life (You mean you don’t know Circus Americano, and you’re not really circus animals? I thought I trusted you, and you lied to me![/spoil]), but I still enjoyed its progression. Chantel DuBois is one of the best Dreamworks villains in my opinion, cos’ she’s so over-the-top.
Nausicaa: It also feels like they’re wandering around and it’s very sit-comy. There’s not really much of an objective (other than getting back to New York) and no real driving force - the first was the zoosters surviving for the first time in the wild, the third had them running for their lives from the Interpol. The first is like a survival movie, the third is like a chase movie. I don’t quite know how to categorise the second (maybe family drama?), it’s that meandering. And some of the sub-plots felt forced (like Marty feeling he’s not special enough as a friend to Marty, Marty having to prove his worth, etc). Melman and Gloria’s romance was probably the best (and cutest) sub-plot.
Madagascar 3 is my fifth-best movie of 2012, and I explain why HERE. I also wrote a review during its release, which you can read HERE. I’d say I had more fun with it than Brave, but it’s less thought-provoking and emotionally-stirring than Wreck-It-Ralph.
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Lots of good movies coming out now, the ones I hope to see are Warm Bodies, a zom-rom-com (now playing) and the western revisionist tale by Quentin Tarantino, Django Unchained (opening this Thursday).
Glad you liked it! I’d love to own that movie sometime.
Aahhh, just rewatched Metropolis (2001). Still a phenomenal movie. I’d love to see Fritz Lang’s too to catch some of the references.
I don’t really watch anime, so I’m not familiar with the 2001 version, but the Fritz Lang original is a masterpiece. You should definitely watch it.
No, I only saw the first.
Oh, I adored that movie as well. My one complaint was that it was too short. I’m glad they didn’t add ‘filler’ scenes, because that just brings quality down. But I wish for the theatrical release, to make up for it, they could of shown a second short before the film. They could of even released an old Disney cartoon from the 40s. Just to get our monies worth.
Watched Grindhouse last night, brilliant tribute to 70s/80s exploitation flicks. Planet Terror (Robert Rodriquez was my favorite of the two. I just love how over-the-top and out-of-control the whole thing is. Definitely one of the goriest films I’ve seen. Death Proof was good as well but didn’t really do Planet Terror justice as there was just too much dialogue, though the brilliant kill scenes and car chases make up for it. Everything else including the “missing reels”, scratchy film look, fake trailers and vintage cinema bumpers really added to the experience.
In my opinion, Planet Terror is a 9/10 and Death Proof is a 7/10, which makes the Grindhouse double feature overall an 8/10. I recommend it, especially to cult filmists and B-movie fans.
Hotel Transylvania:
Despite an entertaining third act, it felt like there was something missing here. In some places, the humor felt a bit too juvenile ([spoil]there is at least one reference to a character’s butt every 10 minutes[/spoil]) and [spoil]Quasimodo[/spoil] was a weak villain (I also noticed a minor plot hole in [spoil]that the characters are afraid of humans but Quasimodo is the hotel’s chef[/spoil]). Despite the film being in development for years, it felt like a few more rewrites were needed. Anyway, the voice cast wasn’t too bad (with the highlights being Kevin James’s portrayal of Frankenstein’s Monster and Steve Buscemi as a werewolf with a large family) and the animation is well done. Mark Mothersbaugh also does a nice Elfman-esque score (though I could of done without the LMFAO songs that populate the movie). C+
Also, that [spoil]take on Twilight[/spoil] was great. Complete with Sandler breaking the fourth wall.
Yes, it’s would be quite funny, except that what he says is “This is how we’re represented, unbelievable!”
And it’s not like Hotel Transylvania makes a decent representation of vampires either so, for me, the comment backfired.
I wouldn’t look to much into that. [spoil]Although he is born of a human, in the original book he is treated as a monster, and raised as one. So that must be good enough for the other monsters. They’re fearful of the conventional humans who kill monsters. BC Quasimodo was treated as a monster, he is in a different category.
After all, Vampires look more human that Quasimodo does, but they’re still monsters.[/spoil]
Just watched True Lies (1994)! Really good action movie, one of Schwarzenegger’s best in my opinion.
True Lies is hilarious!
I’m watching Aladdin right now. It’s in my top 10 Disney movies.
^ Right on, good taste! Honestly, I think I can say the same about it in my Disney list. Have you heard the 3 Wishes remix tribute by D!tto? I jam out to it occasionally. He’s like Pogo and he’s done remixes to Finding Nemo, WALL*E, and Lady and the Tramp to name a few. My family and I also love the Aladdin show at Disneyland!
Geoff: Ah I remember watching Grindhouse with my uni’s movie society, good times. I enjoyed Planet Terror more than Death Proof, although D.P.'s car chase is the best in years (and the ending is just what-the-heck? ). Great Nic Cage cameo too as [spoil]Fu Manchu[/spoil].
Baliboi: Hotel Transylvania was my No. 9 movie of the year because I’m a fan of parodies and crossovers. H.T. is interesting in the sense that there’s no major antagonist, and it’s more of Count Dracula learning to let go of his fears and offspring (much like Marlin in Nemo, Manny in Ice Age: Continental Drift and Grug in the upcoming The Croods). The reason the movie isn’t higher in my list is similar to what you mentioned: It’s too madcap and juvenile at times and I wished they slowed down a little (the best scenes were the quieter ones, like when Mavis and Johnnystein watch the sun rise on the rooftops, or when Dracula does the big reveal for why he hates humans so much).
And the [spoil]Twilight scene[/spoil] got the biggest laugh out of me, ah man, that was parody gold right there (and my theatre crowd shared my sentiments). I also love the irony that a Count voiced by Adam Sandler gets to say the line.
Geoff and SoA: Oh gosh, True Lies is one of my favourite action movies as a kid! It’s not exactly politically-correct (most 80s and 90s movies were a lot crazier than the tame, CGI-laden ones nowadays) now that I think about it, but as a 12-year-old (when I discovered it), it was brilliant. I feel like watching it again just to see Arnie hijack a jet and Jamie Lee Curtis do that striptease.
LQstudiesPixar: Thanks for sharing that! Looks like I’ve got another video editor to look out for. 
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[size=85]Take twice daily, with popcorn.[/size]
At last, I’ve filed my reviews for The Croods and Side Effects at the office at 11pm, just about an hour ago. I’ll be posting a pic of the published versions on my blog and FB, stay tuned! 