#2: The House, And The New Accommodations Of Stop-Motion Animation

 

Who would live in a house like this? An international team of talented stop-motion animators of course, bringing their skills to bear in a macabre anthology piece about the home renovation from hell. Laborious, time-consuming and requiring considerable skill & patience, this naturally prompts a discussion about the surprisingly healthy state of stop-motion animation in a modern industry where shortcuts are relentlessly sought out. It's busted; it's dangerous; but it's ours! Come on in, take off your shoes, put your feet up and let your soul reside here forever!

Listen up!

Show #172: Paranorman

Martin Schneider and Joseph Wade join us on the graveyard shift this Halloween for a spirited appraisal of Paranorman!

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A long overdue reunion after our last dive into Studio Laika's unique filmography, Paranorman represents a quantum leap in the scope & ambition of their craft. But much like its namesake hero does the film risk being misunderstood by an indifferent audience inured to getting all their scary cartoons from Tim Burton? Perverse puppets, an ever more relevant message and the finality of death await you on the other side!

Give a listen to Martin investigating another strange town in Breaking Mayberry!

Keep it seasonal with Joseph and company over on Christmas Creeps!

Show #98: BAWKSTRAALS

After many months we've finally established a link with another world! Those strange folk Anthony Askew from Dynamite In The Brain along with Martin Schneider and Joseph Wade from Front Row Central arrive in our dimension with the good news about Coraline.

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Based on the Neil Gaiman book of the same name and wonderfully animated by the stop-motion faithful at Studio Laika comes Coraline, a be-careful-what-you-wish-for-tale that is at once charming and unnerving. While it's dark fairytale aesthetic and the involvement of Henry Selick may draw comparisons Coraline adheres to no such template and proves a cut above the rest. All this plus silly accents and Martin's fantastic journey through Studio Laika!

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Christmas Creeps - a podcast about Christmas movies all year round!

Movies Silently's review of The Cameraman's Revenge, a stop-motion pioneer

THE SHORT VERSION

Spooky dolls

Spooky parents

CAT David

Show #52: A Man Can Get Lonely

Back to our regular schedule with a much re-scheduled show on Aardman Animation's The Pirates! In An Adventure With Scientists!

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As usual when we newly crack into the works of a particular animation studio we start with their most recent effort. The Pirates In An Adventure With Scientists (a much better name than the American "The Pirates: Band Of Misfits") is pretty straightforward as far as narrative goes but more than makes up for it on the strength of it's visuals, production design, rapid fire gags and great performances from an excellent cast. To contrast all this positivity we have a grand old rant on our bafflement at the box office success of some terrible animated movies.

THE SHORT VERSION

Pirates!

Scientists!

A chimpanzee butler!