Something to watch tonight: Thursday 18 July

Puss in Boots (Miller, 2011)

Time to lighten the mood. This review was in the Capital Times in December 2011:

So. Much. Fun. Soooo. Much. Fun. As one of the smart Embassy staff pointed out to me afterwards, Puss (Antonio Banderas) has been basically single-pawedly keeping the Shrek franchise alive for a while so a spin-off was not only likely but necessary. And welcome.

A dashing feline hero – egotistical, narcissistic but with a heart of gold – Puss roams the countryside getting in to trouble with owners of shiny things and owners of lady cats. But he has a dark secret, a shadow, a burden to carry: a tragic miscarriage of justice back in his home town has made him a fugitive determined to clear his name. A chance meeting with childhood best friend Humpty Alexander Dumpty (Zack Galifianakis) offers him a shot at redemption – along with some magic beans that could lead to golden eggs in a castle in the sky.

Full of witty dialogue, cat jokes, visual puns and immaculate comic timing, Puss in Boots is a must-see for cat lovers of all ages. If you are more of a dog person then stay tuned, there’s something for you later on. Before I leave Puss, though, I want to pose you a question. If traditional animators can do such amazing and amusing work with only their mice to work with, why do we need all that new-fangled performance capture technology? Seems increasingly like a solution looking for a problem to me.

The sequel is, if it were possible, even better (but we’ll come to that another day).

Also in that Capital Times column: Irish dancing documentary Jig, Aussie tearjerker Red Dog, and Celine Sciamma’s “quiet little puzzle” Tomboy.