A Dream Weekend...

DreamWorks Animation cleaned up at the box office this weekend...

"Monsters Vs. Aliens" ended Sunday with a monstrous take of $58.2 million dollars. Katzenberg's little firm has been delivering quite a bit of a challenge to the Mouse and Lamp with its stream of hits over the last couple of years. Granted, the quality of stories haven't been as high as Pixars, but the box office has more than equaled Emeryville.

I saw MvA over the weekend and fully enjoyed it. While the story was good, it ain't "Kung Fu Panda," but was a fun escapist night at the movies. Those of you that are fans of old sci-fi 50's films or cheesy monster films of that era should really enjoy it. But as it stands for me, Panda is still the only Pixar-quality film they've produced. From what I hear the sequel is working out very good, story-wise.

Here's hoping that future films like "Master Mind" and "Truckers" build on the base that DW has constructed over the last few years...

Aliens Land Today, Monster Box Office, Kung Fu Quality?

DreamWorks Animation releases "Monsters Vs. Aliens" in theaters today and the big question isn't if the film will make a boat load of cash...

It will. The real question is if Jeffrey Katzenberg's company can replicate the awesomeness that was "Kung Fu Panda" and make it two in a row? DW has a long list of projects lined up on the production run way and many are wondering will MVA be a harginger of what's to come or will it fall back into the "Bee Movie" and tiring "Shrek" territory.

After today we may have the answer...

Monsters Clipped...

Speaking of DreamWorks new film...

Coming Soon has a new clip from "Monsters Vs. Aliens" up for all to see. Give it a look...

Blue Sky Mini-Review: Monsters Vs. Aliens...

Ahhh, my Bothan Spies are everywhere...

One of them, a friend that goes by the name Urban Myth was lucky enough to a see a screening of "Monster vs Aliens" last week and sent in this mini-review...

"For some reason I wasn't expecting much from Monsters vs. Aliens (MVA.) I'm not a super huge comic or Sci-Fi fan, and I've definitely had my fill of Dreamworks films relying on pop culture references. But I have to say I was pleasantly surprised and it's a really fun movie- especially in 3D. The movie focuses more on the character Susan (aka Ginormica) than I thought. And there was (without giving anything away) a really nice arc to her character that was unexpected.

The humor comes from every angle in the film. As you can guess from the trailer the Monster crew are absolutely hilarious with out relying on your garden variety pop humor this time. Just hearing BOB's laughs made me laugh. Even the villain Gallaxhar gets in on the comedic action... But I will say there are a hand full of scenes with the President (Steve Colbert) that were the absolute funniest bits in the whole film. Talk about quirky and out of left field.

The only thing that really bugged me was that all the humans, their vehicles and aircraft etc all looked very toy like in comparison to the really fleshly and organic looking monsters. That little disconnect was the only thing that felt odd to me. But I'm guessing it kind of all goes with the comic roots and that the fans will appreciate more than I.

There is a lofty setup for a sequel at the end of the movie, so if this one comes out strong later this month I'm sure you are going to see more MVA in the future. But it really is worth seeing and I didn't expect to say that going in.

"Gallaxhar out!"

Well, there you have your first look at what could be DreamWorks next animated hit. This isn't the only positive report I've gotten about the movie. I've had multiple comments about how much fun this film was. It looks like Jeffrey Katzenberg has another winner on his hands.

We'll know for sure when the aliens land on March 27th...

Another Competitive Poster...

A new one-sheet poster is out over at Yahoo! Movies for Dreamworks Animation's "Monsters Vs. Aliens" and it's your normal take with the characters upfront. There's not much humor or art to the poster like there was to "Kung Fu Panda," but the buzz surrounding this film is like that for the Panda...


Hat Tip to Animated News.

The Competition In 2009: Dream Marketing...

Yahoo! Movies has a bunch of great shots from Dreamworks Animation's "Monster's Vs. Aliens" film that comes out in March...







I'm fond of these particular one-sheet posters of the characters. I like the marketing campaign Katzenberg and company are using and the rumbles I'm hearing make it look as though this film will be on the "Kung Fu Panda" side of things and not the "Bee Movie" side of things...





Hat Tip to Animated News.

The Competition In 2009: New Monsters vs. Aliens Trailer...

There's a new trailer for Dreamworks Animation's "Monsters Vs Aliens" out over at MSN Movies...

Check it out. It's quite clever. Nothing like some good competition to make the Mouse work harder at getting us to pay for a ticket... We all win with better stories, better films.

The Mouse's Competition Gets Animated: "Monsters Vs. Aliens" Trailer...

This looks like it's going to be fun...



I'm truly looking forward to this early next year. I hope it's as good as it looks. I want Dreamworks Animation to have films that are as good as "Kung Fu Panda," which was the first film they've made that I considered to be "Pixar Quality"... Such competition is good for the Mouse and the public as well. Bob Iger brought in Lasseter to make sure that Disney's own offerings were as good as those of the Lamp. The more good animated films, the better. It's my belief that Disney's Second Golden Age not only helped the Mouse, but animation in general. It made executives take note to the amount of scratch they could earn. It let the idea creep into the closed minds of Suits the conception that animation and cartoons were not just a "kid's thing." As John F. Kennedy once paraphrased: "A rising tide lifts all boats."



Time will tell.

But on to the news. Dreamworks Animation has released the theatrical trailer to "Monsters Vs. Aliens."










Hat Tip to Trailer Addict.

Mickey's Competition (2009)...

I really am looking forward to WDAS's "The Princess and the Frog", but there's going to be a lot of animation out next year. The Mouse is going to have a huge amount of competition throughout the year...

Who/What/When, exactly?



Astro Boy (mid 2009).


Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (Premiere Chrismas 2009, opening January 15, 2010.).


Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (July 1, 2009).


Monster's vs. Aliens (March 27, 2009).


Planet 51 (Second half 2009).

Naturally, there are a lot more than this list, but these I listed here are the ones that interest me. And I believe, the ones that could do legitimate business at the box office...