Board 8 > Gauntlet Crew Ranks (more!) Animated Films! - I've got horns for making lists

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#14 Hint: The fewest bottom half rankings so far, yet only two spots in top 10s!
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Gonna say Sing
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Charon didn't rank the pirate movie high? Huh.
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Ermine and scarlet Guess Update

The Pirates! Band of Misfits

scarlet's prediction: 10
Ermine actual: 15 (5)
Total Difference: 104

Ermine's prediction: 21
scarlet actual: 10 (11)
Total difference: 125

Ermine coughs up a lot of his previous gains despite an ambitious top 10 prediction from scar.
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14. Arthur Christmas

Karo: 5
Inviso: 7
scarlet: 12
charon: 15
JONA: 16
red: 19
Johnbobb: 20
Snake: 20
Ermine: 22
Genny: 24
Stifled: 27

Karo: In modern times, Santa's operation is now run with military precision by his eldest son, while his klutzy youngest son, Arthur, is quarantined to the mail room so he wont break anything (it doesnt work). When one of the gifts is accidentally not delivered, Arthur and his old-fashioned and slightly insane grandfather set off on a roadtrip in the old retro sleigh to deliver the present before it is too late. This dysfunctional and off-course journey is easily the most hilarious thing Aardman has ever done.

It has a whimsical feel to it and is heavily focused on character interaction, much like Pixar's standard formula, and I dare say they did this aspect better than Pixar themselves.

Inviso: This was what I needed. Theres been so many super serious movies on around this point in the list (or just outright BAD movies), that I just needed something of reasonable quality that wasnt trying to be the be-all- end-all of animation. This is a heartfelt and touching movie that shows what happens when the Christmas spirit is lost, and only to biggest dork available has what it takes to bring everything back. Its just a really sweet movie, and I love the idea of Santa forgetting a single present, and only ONE person thinks the recipient should have said present delivered. Its hard, but it takes heart, and Arthur has heart in spades. I just really enjoyed this one, thats all.

scarlet: In the history of Christmas films, this is one of them. Its not Miracle on 34th Street, of course, but Arthur Christmas is definitely a movie that thematically explores Christmas. Of course, its no Die Hard, but there are stakes in this film. I would hesitate to say that its White Christmas, but this film does in fact have a score. I hate to draw comparisons with Love Actually, but this is a Christmas film featuring the talents of Bill Nighy. Much like the Santa Clause, this film features the story of Santa. Ultimately, a cast and crew worked on this movie in order to produce a final product that could be released in theaters with the intent of finding a viewership willing to pay to see it.
Rating: 61/100

charon: I far prefer this sort of look for Aardman films. Their trademark style can be an acquired taste but there's not a ton of that in this one, which was good news for it when it comes to me. Arthur begins the film sort of way too unbelievably inept in life, but I came to like him and his zeal. I was wondering when they brought the reindeer out where Rudolph was, but I came to realize by the film's end that Arthur WAS Rudolph essentially. He was the outcast who everyone made fun of that saved Christmas, so to speak at least. I felt like he was treated very cruelly, especially in the beginning of the film where the elves treat him like he's some sort of bastard child. I'll admit I wasn't expecting him to really end up inhereting the mantle of Santa by the end, so it was a nice surprise rather than something that I saw coming.

JONA: A very heartfelt and funny movie about Christmas. Yup.
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red: Santas have a family squabble. Or something. As it turns out, old Santa is old and incompitent, Arthur is mostly incompitent, and military guy doesn't care enough. Arthur, old old santa and an elf go off on an incompitent adventure to save the day. The family dynamic and not quite as annoying as they could be characters keep this movie afloat, even if the everything goes wrong plot sometimes feels like a more generic santa story. There are better christmas movies, but there are also christmas movies that are a lot worse than this one.

Johnbobb: I was a little hesitant going in, as Ive never really been a BIG fan of Christmas movies, especially ones that seemed so specifically geared toward kids, but Arthur Christmas was surprisingly decent. It tries to look at Christmas in a clever sort of way, giving explanations for how Santa continues over generations and how so many houses are handled. Still, the cleverness only really leads to more questions (How do Santas have kids if the current Mrs. Claus is the only non-elf woman on the North Pole?). The most important question being if billions of presents could be delivered in like half the night, why couldnt one more present be delivered? We see everyone make it there in a matter of minutes at the end when Steve wants to beat Arthur, but like why not just do that from the start? The movie breaks its own logic constantly but the fact that there is literally no reason for anything to be happening kind of takes away from an otherwise fun (if predictable) movie. Bryony was cool.

Snake: Very predictable in some spots but generally a fun ride. Its got decent characters and is really just that perfect cozy, Christmas Eve movie to watch with your family.

Ermine: A fairly solid Christmas film with very few issues. The problem is that it really doesn't stand out to me or is really that magical at all. Just average through and through. Overall a good time but nothing more.

Genny: This is petty I know, but once again I just cannot comprehend what the target audience was here. Can you honestly imagine asking a child what his/her favorite movie is only to be met with, "Arthur Christmas"? Yet unlike Pirates! Band of Misfits, this doesn't feel like it was made for an older crowd either. I just can't fathom it. Anyway I got a couple of laughs from it, but I can't help but feel like I wouldn't cared more of the movie starred an anthropomorphic aardvark.

Stifled: Freeform plays this on their Christmas marathon every year lately. Its a joyous little movie and I love the voice acting. Its an alternate universe where Professor Slughorn married Umbridge and carried on the lineage of Santa Claus. Truly a tale of the ages!

Traviss opinion: He liked the scenes with the toys, but didnt actually pay this one much attention. Perhaps seeing the toys just made him want to play with his?
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Outlier scores:

Ermine: 245
Stifled : 222
Karo: 221
Inviso: 214
Snake : 208
Genny : 187
JONA: 162
charon: 160
red: 143
Johnbobb: 141
scarlet: 119

Is it possible to catch either outlier? Both hold nearly identical leads at this juncture!
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#13 Hint: In what must be an impressive feat for a movie finishing near the top 10, this film was not once ranked inside a top 10.
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Sing possibly?
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this has to be Sing, right?

maybe Finding Dory but it's Pixar so I assume at least one person top 10'd it by default
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This is Dory or depression. I think.

Leafeon13N posted...

This is Dory or depression. I think.

I don't see Aronofsky: The Claymation not getting a single top 10
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Johnbobb posted...

Leafeon13N posted...

This is Dory or depression. I think.

I don't see Aronofsky: The Claymation not getting a single top 10

That was my thinking, but I'm low on things to choose from. Dory definitely my first guess.

I'm gonna guess Sing!
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Inviso posted...

I'm gonna guess Sing!

I wanna be cool so I'm gonna guess Sing.
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I wanna be cool so I'm gonna guess How to Train Your Dragon 2.
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Ermine and scarlet Guess Update

Arthur Christmas

scarlet's prediction: 19
Ermine actual: 22 (3)
Total Difference: 107

Ermine's prediction: 20
scarlet actual: 12 (8)
Total difference: 133

Gap gets bigger and we're running low on chances for it to shrink.
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13. Sing!

Stifled: 11
Snake: 12
Inviso: 13
Ermine: 14
red: 14
Genny: 15
charon: 19
Karo: 19
Johnbobb: 21
scarlet: 22
JONA: 23

Stifled: The new season of American Idol isnt worth watching, but Sing definitely is. I was skeptical of this one, but I immediately really liked the characters (except Seth McFarlane mouse. Fuck that guy). The singing was all really good and the contestants reality show-appropriate sob stories were all much more compelling than the ones in real life. Punk rock porcupine girl was my favorite.

Traviss opinion: He isnt always fond of singing cartoons, but this one had a few car chases. So he was amused.

Snake: This movie really surprised me with well-written and fun characters, and Buster Moons (I still cant help but think of Herbert Moon when I hear that name) personal journey was touching and emotionally affecting. I couldve did without some of the goofier slapstick moments but for the most part they all worked well. My favorite character was Miss Crawly, I really enjoyed her animated expressions and she had some of the funniest moments in the movie.

Inviso: I can completely admit various faults in this film. Not only is it extremely dated with its pop music references, but there are also some glaring animation flaws that really bug me on a second watch. That being said, Im a sucker for this sort of thing. Not only is this a movie that is, in essence, about a reality show, but it gives me a cast of characters I cant help but fall in love with. The main six cast members all have unique and interesting personalities, and I love watching their motivations for their actions. Buster loves the theater and just wants to make his dream a success, Mina wants to get over her shyness, Rosita wants more to life than thanklessly taking care of her family, Johnny doesnt want to be a criminal in his fathers footsteps, Ash wants to prove herself after playing second fiddle to her boyfriendand Mike is a dick. Its all in good fun and its enjoyable to watch for me.
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Ermine: Definitely better than I thought it was going to be but it does have its issues. I think I talked about this with Summer Wars but when you work with a ton of characters, any sort of meaningful development in those characters is basically thrown out the window. Even clocking in at almost two hours, the movie does NOT have enough time to develop these characters properly, or at least in ways that I like. Another issue I have I'm really not a fan of just grabbing popular actors and actresses and then just plopping them down on animal characters and telling them to read some lines. It really does feel like the actor or actress is just sitting in the booth and speaking their lines. They have no actual feeling of the character they are supposed to be playing and it really just feels so wrong. What's more is that I was honestly not really a fan of a lot of the animation in general for most of the animals. A lot of them are incredibly over humanized to the point where it just looks kind of ugly. Zootopia's style in comparison is leagues better that it's a bit insulting even comparing the two. Mike's character design and voice is I think the only one I really enjoyed. Oh and surprise surprise, he basically gets zero character development as well.

Ermine Side Note: Porcupines cannot shoot their quills, and the fact they did this twice in the film was super cringy.

Ermine Side Note 2: The Red Panda girls were ugly and horrifying. When you try and make something so ultra cute, it can kind of completely 180 and turn into a disaster. They were annoying and not even close to being anything remotely cute. Come on Illumination Entertainment... I know I give you a lot of flack, but you guys do actually know how to make things at least somewhat cute. Don't give me Red Pandas, my favorite animal, and then freaking turn them into those abominations.

Ermine Side Note 3: Now this is actually completely against my own bias but when I thought about it, it actually made me wonder... Why are all these characters animals in the first place? There's practically no reason for all the characters in the film to be animals and they could all just be replaced by humans and you'd barely have to change anything, at least, they'd barely have to change anything related to the plot of the film. With other films that have animals as all the main characters, there's reasons for it such as it actually supports the story/plot (Example: Zootopia). It really feels like Illumination was just like, let's make a movie like American Idol but we'll make everyone animals because it will be more cute and people like cute. Now while yes, this does work on me, I can at least see through their sneaky plan and acknowledge it.

While these issues hurt the movie for me, I do have to say I did quite enjoy the later half of the film. The climax was enjoyable and it was fun seeing everything coming together at the end. It also has a few characters I decently like, those being Mike, Eddie and Johnny.

Most of my writeup for the film is pretty negative, but aside from the somewhat boring start and the other issues I had, it's still pretty decent and better than I thought it was going to be.

red: Do you like pop songs? I hope you like pop songs because Sing needs them to carry the movie. Not exactly the movie I was expecting, but it has its own little bit of charm in all of the characters dealing with their non-singing related plights in their way of the competition. You also have a main character in a mess of his own making, and his own dishonesty can make it a bit harder to really empathize with his plight. The pop songs don't completely overpower the movies plot, but you can definitely feel how they are there for the purpose of luring poeple to the film.
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Genny: I liked Sing enough to see it 3 times with three different friends: my best friend from high school, my (then) boyfriend, and my best friend from elementary and middle school. After all that I'm still not totally sick of it! True, Buster's not a good guy, but that's entirely the point. Throughout the movie he is humbled, and though it's true he gets no real comeuppance it's still fun to watch. I know the big show was supposed to be the WOW moment, but I actually had more fun with the auditions and trying to impress Nana. At times the movie does feel bogged down with one too many perspective characters, but at the same time I couldn't imagine the film without Johnny, Rosita, Ash, or any of the others. As much as I'd love to be rid of Seth MouseFarlain, you kind of need him there to generate conflict.

charon: Sometimes films that feature many character subplots and lack a real lead struggle to make much of an impression, but Sing does a pretty good job in creating a likable cast that don't dwarf one another. Each of the main cast members is memorable and I didn't feel that any of their plots lacked more than any others. The different musical styles presented here really helped with that as well. Writing this now, I can't say that the movie was really that touching nor did it create any big feelings for the cast, but rather it's just one of those films that played to its strengths and didn't attempt to reach beyond its ceiling. It was fun, engaging with its music and was seldom ever dull. We watched this in theaters as well as watching again with some friends, so this was one of the few films that didn't need a rewatch; that said I wouldn't have minded that much.

Karo: A koala decides to bolster his failing theater by hosting Animal Idol on its stage. This gives us scores of critter singing auditions, some of which are very cute, and some of which involve a flatulent yak and should never be spoken of again. The movie does a good job of juggling the many, many storylines of the various contestants, and it deserves props for trying something that was a little bit different and risky. Though one has to consider the wisdom of making a movie that is essentially just a fake reality show, especially when you entirely ditch the competition that was pretty much the whole plot so that at the end so everyone can get up on stage 'for fun' to sing their songs so nobody is better than anyone else and everyone's a winner in their own little fucking hugboxes.

Johnbobb: Its a pretty by-the-books animated kids movie all around. Its one of the first ones where I felt I was totally outside its target audience (some feel like theyre for all ages but this one seems specifically aimed at younger children) but I can still recognize some quality for what it is. The characters are mostly likeable (except the mouse; the movie seems to expect us to root for him by the end despite his first scene literally involving him robbing a child). Also, jesus christ, the father/son relationships were stressed so heavily Im surprised Cats In The Cradle wasnt song by actual cats somewhere in there.
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scarlet: Its no Zootopia - except it kind of is exactly like Zootopia. The only differences, really, lie in the quality. The quality of the script is hackneyed and paint-by-numbers. The quality of the setting, nothing more than a matter of convenience, is as flimsy as a western town comprised entirely of building fronts propped up by angled boards. The quality of voiceover feels phoned-in. These arent characters, but rather they are celebrities playing themselves in fursuits. And, if at some point, we could present a new moral to a childrens film, I would be surprised. Not even pleased. Just floored. Unapologetically bowled over. Ill take Things Animated Films Lost in the 2010s, Alex. Your answer, This concept was passed over in favor of safety and focus testing, using both to accrue money without thought. What is originality, Alex?
Rating: 52/100

JONA: The movie doesnt really do much with the fact that the characters are animals; there were a bunch of licensed songs are used for no good reason and none of the characters were particularly great. Despite those problems, I ended up enjoying the film. Despite the big cast, the movie was good at covering each of them and had some decent covers. Just a fun movie.
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Outlier scores:

Ermine: 246
Karo: 227
Stifled : 224
Inviso: 214
Snake : 209
Genny : 189
JONA: 172
charon: 166
Johnbobb: 149
red: 144
scarlet: 128

A few switches in the "next-to" spots.
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#12 Hint:: This film appeared in two people's top 3.
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Hmm...

Given how unexpectedly poorly Lego Movie did last time, perhaps this is Lego Batman?
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Gonna say Mary and Max here
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Lego Movie was partially me, I'm not involved so I dunno. Lego Batman is not that likely.
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Johnbobb posted...

Gonna say Mary and Max here

Has to be something divisive so Mary and Max sounds right up this alley.

Ermine and scarlet Guess Update

Sing!

scarlet's prediction: 16
Ermine actual:14 (2)
Total Difference: 109

Ermine's prediction: 24
scarlet actual: 22 (2)
Total difference: 135

Both guess 2 spots too low to maintain the status quo.
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Damn I almost missed this. Tag.
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12. Mary and Max

Snake: 2
Johnbobb: 3
Karo: 6
JONA: 9
scarlet: 15
red: 17
charon: 20
Genny: 20
Stifled: 20
Inviso: 32
Ermine: 35

Snake: Funny, but with an ever-present sense of gloom, Mary and Max is a meticulously crafted story thats deeply gripping in nearly every facet. Ingenious use of lighting to portray various moods over the course of the film ranging from self-deprecating to high spirits bring the film to life. Mary and Max always uses humor in a different way than most other animated films do, preferring to focus on the peculiarities of the human personality, even if some of the said peculiarities can be a cause for isolation and lack of companionship. It provides a great message in that living with your flaws is a necessity in life, and Mary and Max delivers that message with a refreshing sharpness and pure-hearted honesty.

Johnbobb: You know that feeling you got in your stomach the first time you watched Requiem for a Dream? Mary and Max is that feeling, the entire way through. It's simultaneously one of the ugliest and most beautiful animated movies I've seen, and left me with a suddenly all-too-familiar inability to express my emotions.

Karo: The story of an odd little girl and an odd old geezer who become pen pals. The two of them spend the whole movie corresponding back and forth, accompanied by brilliant and subtly funny narration. This all leads up to an ending that is both sad and touching, but still strangely satisfying. There for some reason was an extreme number of flatulence jokes, which severely clashes with the tone of the rest of the movie. Please, this is not Nickelodeon, we can do without that kind of thing. Otherwise the film is an exemplary example of what western animation can offer when we step outside the boundaries of the safe, formulaic, sequel-humping nature of the industry today.

JONA: Man, do I hate the main theme of this movie. It is played so much and is so repetitive. I was getting tired of it when it first played. That being said, this is just an awe-inspiring movie. The artstyle definitely wont be appealing to some people, and I feel thats kind of the point. The artstyle and crudeness help show how much both the characters lives suck and how them writing to each other helps both of them. The Que Sera Sera scene might be the most powerful scene in this list.

scarlet: Maybe I ate a bad burrito, but the narrative of Mary and Max didnt move me at all. Instead I was mostly fascinated by the balance of light and shade in the story. While Ive heard people speak of how they felt the story was simple and yet poignant, evoking a wide variety of emotions, I felt nonplussed and uninvested in the characters interrelationships. Instead, Ill take a quote straight out of the film and paraphrase what Max so eloquently said: I felt like the plot was in a tumble dryer. It was full of well-constructed individual components rolling around in a jumbled mess of trite plotting. Artistically interesting. Otherwise excruciating to watch at times and at other times, fine.
Rating: 57/100
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red: This is quote possibly the most depressing movie you could possibly watch. This is a good thing and a bad thing, partly because the movie is about depression and other social disorders. The characters are depressing and at every moment the characters will make irrational decisions only rationalized by their own mental anguish. This movie will punch you in the gut a hundred times over but does it in a way where you can understand where everything is coming from. This movie is frustrating and soul crushing, sometimes in a good way, and sometimes in a way that it feels like its being a jerk just to be a jerk. It can also get needless weird sometimes, choosing to be less about depression and more about strange ways to die.

charon: A unique film about mental illness that inspires, well, depression in the viewer. Or at least it intends to I believe. I'll be honest, during the scene where Mary is finally about to meet Max, I could see what was coming and called out it was. Then when he really was dead, I laughed. I'm sorry. It wasn't funny in that way, it was just almost too comically obvious. It's one of those things a writer thinks he's doing to pull and interesting twist but it falls flat because you just knew it was coming all along anyway. Writing in this style has become pretty popular over the last decade honestly, and it's wearing thin on me. That said, I don't dislike this movie. It's interesting and has its great moments. It really is just that neither character makes me inspired or makes me root for them. They're both flawed, and it's just in ways that I don't appreciate.

Genny: Mary and Max is one of the most depressing films I've ever seen... and I can't say I didn't enjoy it. Well aside from that way too real dark turn Mary was one step away from taking at the end. That was just unpleasant. I didn't mind the bittersweet ending and I actually enjoyed the schadenfreude aspect of viewing their lives. It's amazing how their letters could be equally toxic to each other or the one thing that got their pen pal through the day. Words are powerful! Mary and Max serves as a reminder that, while you may not understand someone different from you it's important to try to see things from their perspective. You don't have to fully understand someone to love or appreciate them.
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Stifled: I need to come right out and say this before I begin: the art style is pretty gross. Its so off-putting and for the first like 5-10 minutes it was hard for me to get into it. But then it grew on me a little. Mary and Maxs letters back and forth were adorable. Marys innocence and Maxs bluntness were both refreshing. And then as the movie progressed, it grew on me a lot more. I started to care about these people. But then to see Mary spiral out of control and almost...you know. Damn. It got really hard to watch. The ending was what I figured would happen, but I still didnt want it. That said, it was beautifully done, despite being completely heartbreaking. The letters all over the walls...wow. Superb. This joins the ranks of Persepolis and Breadwinner in terms of likely will not get a rewatch, however. All three were an experience Ill never forget and was glad to have, but depressing just isnt what I want to devote time to watching on a normal basis.

Inviso: Im watching these in order of the list, so having Mary and Max so soon after Persepolis isweird to say the least. Like, on the one hand, the movies artistic merit and the story it tells are interesting. The notion of psychological disorder explored through the eyes of two penpals across the globe is enjoyable. Admittedly, the movie is a BIT too narrational at times, but whatever. My main problem though is the art style, honestly. Its really off-putting. Its like an R-rated version of the art from Frankenweenie, with copious claymated anuses and genitalia. Between that and the narration, it ends up overpowering my appreciation enough to dock points from the movie.

Ermine: Overall just a very depressing film and in an art style that I do not enjoy. It has a solid story and is completely fine but just isn't for me. Not much else to say really.
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v_charon posted...

You know that feeling you got in your stomach the first time you watched Requiem for a Dream?

Disinterest?
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scarletspeed7 posted...

v_charon posted...

You know that feeling you got in your stomach the first time you watched Requiem for a Dream?

Disinterest?

:o
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Outlier scores:

Ermine: 269
Inviso: 234
Karo: 233
Stifled : 232
Snake : 219
Genny : 197
JONA: 175
charon: 174
Johnbobb: 158
red: 149
scarlet: 131

Inviso leapfrogs Karo and Stifled; what a battle for that second outlier spot! Ermine could have sealed the deal on the top spot with this placement however. This probably also made the bottom spot a two person race.

#11 Hint: Almost at the top 10 now. This movie was placed there 4 times. A major company will lose a film here (as in, a company we've done a solo topic for).
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Ermine and scarlet Guess Update

Mary and Max

scarlet's prediction: 23
Ermine actual:35 (12)
Total Difference: 121

Ermine's prediction: 16
scarlet actual: 15 (1)
Total difference: 136

Scarlet with kind of an odd prediction here brings us back to a much closer gap of 15.
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scarletspeed7 posted...

red13n posted...

Scarlet with kind of an odd prediction

Stop please.

?
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Finding Dory
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11. Finding Dory

JONA: 6
Inviso: 8
charon: 10
Ermine: 10
scarlet: 14
Snake: 15
Johnbobb: 16
Karo: 20
red: 20
Genny: 22
Stifled: 32

JONA: Definitely a surprise how good this movie was. I would say I even like it more than the first one because of Dory being such a strong lead. The movie does a good job of making you empathize with Dorys situation and show the frustrations of her problem. I also enjoyed the aquarium setting and it was used to its potential. Also, wow that chase scene. Fantastic movie.

Inviso: While Finding Nemo is EASILY the superior movie (its more compact and focused, I think), I DEFINITELY appreciate Dory more as a character after this film. Dont get me wrong, Dory in Finding Nemo was still a hilarious comic relief sidekickbut this movie actually gave her a purpose. It turned her into a CHARACTER rather than a prop, and I really enjoyed that. Its amazing to me, because the whole gag to Dory in Finding Nemo was her memory loss, and were supposed to find to find that funny. And it WAS. But then in this movie, we actually got to see the struggles involved in having a disorder like that. We get to see Dory having emotional breakdowns because she cant remember (and we got ONE scene like that in the original movie). Dorys character arc alone makes this a good movie. Still not one of Pixars BEST, but thats a high pedigree to live up to.

charon: Sometimes movies don't need sequels. Sometimes you have to just believe that franchises are being forced to continue on to just sell more merchandise. Then other times, you can legitimately see a film following another popular one up. That's Finding Dory. Once the original film ended, you just knew Dory was a strong and interesting enough character to land a starring role in a film. This sequel starring a side character is an example of how to do it right. A great balance of original and new characters coupled with the right amount of focus being placed on the new lead. There are so contrived moments in this sure, but largely the story told was great. Dory's progression here was nice, and creating her own "sidekick" in Hank to replace her role in the original film as a foil for the lead was masterful. They were really able to recreate the best part of Finding Nemo, which was the playful relationship with Marlin and Dory by supplementing a new character. Very bold, very well done.

Ermine: I certainly enjoyed this more than I thought I would considering I'm really not a big fan of Dory as a character. But similar to Finding Nemo, the strength of these films for me come from their supporting characters. Dory, Marlin and Nemo are probably my least favorite characters of the film, but the fact that Hank and the rest of the supporting characters are likable and enjoyable characters makes the film work for me. The weakest point of the film is definitely the first 20-30 minutes, before they get to the aquatic center for sure. It's basically just Dory being annoying, Nemo being a brat and making Marlin feel bad all the time and then predictable junk. Thankfully, it picks up really quickly once they get to the center and the movie introduces Hank. I'm not quite sure if I'd put this ABOVE Finding Nemo, but it's damn close and overall the film is a lot of fun, especially the ending. I didn't know how badly I needed Otter Cuddle Parties until I saw them.
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scarlet: Imagine if you didnt like a recurring gag in a fairly standard piece of genre fare that gained widespread acclaim for reasons you could never quite pinpoint. Now imagine that an entire generation of casual filmgoers only quoted that recurring gag for a decade without understanding what the concept of humor involved. Now that the jokes have been run into the ground, release a film featuring this one-note character as the primary fixture in a sequel that comes out of a story with no real momentum that would suggest a sequel was in order.

What Im saying is, Finding Dory couldve done a worse job with the deck stacked against itself the way that it was.
Rating: 60/100

Snake: Unfortunately not as richly detailed or filled with as many great character moments as Nemo, but it still manages to be a fun roller-coaster ride of errors, funny aquarium and sea jokes, and a great character in Hank. It nearly careens off course by the end with a horribly unrealistic sequence of events (even for an animated movie) but it doesnt ruin the touching and humorous moments that come before it.

Johnbobb: I was hesitant of a Finding Dory sequel after Monsters University failed to live up to Monsters Inc. And yeah, Finding Dory doesnt really hold up. Whereas Finding Nemo succeeded in exploring the variety of the ocean (schools, jellyfish, sea turtles riding currents) and comparing that with the bleakness of mankind by comparison, Finding Dory never really tries to do anything as powerful. Its mostly just here to build character for Dory give us some silly escapades to laugh at. But what it does, it does well. Dory made for a surprisingly solid lead, and JK Simmons octopus was an excellent character (the other new ones introduced were less impressive).

Karo: The long awaited sequel to Pixar's breakout fish adventure movie, and by sequel I mean taking the script of Finding Nemo and crossing out all the instances of 'Nemo' with magic marker and writing in 'Dory'. So basically Dory gets caught and placed in an aquarium while looking for her family and the others have to rescue her. She meets all sorts of wacky aquarium critters, most of of whom have various disabilities that are played for laughs (they are not actually funny). She soon finds out that the aquarium is conveniently the place that she grew up with her parents, and just as conveniently they dont live there anymore.

The seashell scene where she finally meets her parents for the 'first' time is very touching, but unfortunately everything that made Dory cute and funny in Finding Nemo is twisted and perverted in this sequel. Her lovable forgetfulness is now presented as so sad, depressing and pitiful that it reaches a point where it even ruins the first movie. Imagine a sequel to Aladdin where the Genie has to deal with multiple personality disorder and his struggles to form meaningful connections to others as a result. Yeah, fuck that shit, funny characters are supposed to be funny. Though not a terrible movie, it is a very uninspired one that feels forced into being simply for the sake of a sequel, and it shows that Pixar may finally be out of good ideas and can do nothing more than to beat a dead fish.
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red: Oh look a pixar movie getting a sequel despite not needing a sequel. We are now on the quest to find Dory's parents because...reasons? Despite the incredible distance and relative absurdity of such a task, Dory finds her parents and a whole slew of friends she knew before. Also they drive a truck at some point, because animals driving cars is a thing in these movies(I'm kind of curious if there is a count of animals vs humans that drive cars in these films...). While the movie is somewhat enjoyable for what it is, it stil never truly escapes from sequel that never needed to exist territory.

Genny: Sorry, but my favorite part of Finding Dory was the Piper short at the beginning. I actually mean that. Dory was never one of my favorite parts of Finding Nemo. I didn't hate her, but more often than not I found her presence detrimental to the story. She works as a side character to balance out Marlin who isn't very fun, but as a central character she's a fish out of water, pun intended.

Destiny and Hank are okay additions, but I legit couldn't stand Bailey or Becky or anything to do with them. And the plot was just ridiculous. I should've eaten up that otter cuddle party- they're literally my favorite animal- but I couldn't get over the insanity of an octopus and some fish driving a semi truck. I know I was supposed to feel bad for poow wittle Dowy and her short term memowy woss, but my heartstrings remained unpulled. Sadly my favorite part of the actual movie was trying to find Hank in the end credits, and maybe the sea lions hating on Gerry. Poor Gerry...

Stifled: I know a lot of people loved Finding Nemo. I wasnt one of them. And when they announced Nemo was getting a sequel over Pixar franchises I felt could legit have sequels, I wasnt happy. Luckily, The Incredibles 2 is finally going to be a thing now, so anger satiated. But Finding Dory was still not my cup of tea. Or...saltwater? I dunno. Dory was probably my least favorite part of Finding Nemo, so as you might guess, this movie didnt impress me. I personally find Dorys memory loss problem to be annoying and frustrating, and not something I can relate to. And having an entire movie focused around her constantly forgetting shit (or in some cases finally sort of remembering shit) just does not work for me. I did like the octopus, however. He was a breath of fresh air that was just as frustrated with Dory as I was. Of course they all become friends and help each other and blah blah blah. But in that scene with the tag, I felt like we were the same person in how we reacted to Dory being Dory.

Traviss opinion: He watched it twice: once with my girlfriend while I was out for the day, and once with both of us. He slept through it both times. I think hes trying to tell me something.
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Outlier scores:

Ermine: 270
Stifled : 253
Karo: 242
Inviso: 237
Snake : 223
Genny : 208
JONA: 180
charon: 175
Johnbobb: 163
red: 158
scarlet: 134

Stifled with one last gasp to get back into the thick of things for outlier. Seems like spots are evening out for the most part now.
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Hating Dory is terrible, and you should feel bad for doing it.
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Surprised more people didn't mention the ending. I've seen Finding Dory three times and the horrible ending to it still makes me want to check out everytime.
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Snake5555555555 posted...

Surprised more people didn't mention the ending. I've seen Finding Dory three times and the horrible ending to it still makes me want to check out everytime.

This one?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=071pe_pXAD4" data-time="
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Yes lmao
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Snake5555555555 posted...

Surprised more people didn't mention the ending. I've seen Finding Dory three times and the horrible ending to it still makes me want to check out everytime.

You know where you made the mistake, right?
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