Back in August, I posted an article that collected a trio of small reviews I’d written for some of the films I’ve seen during this year, with the idea that I might do more articles in that vein to act as stopgaps between more in-depth writings. I think that turned out pretty well, and I’m a bit busy with other projects at the moment, so I’m gonna be doing that again today.
Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005, Dir. Nick Park & Steve Box) – Rewatch
Around the start of July, I got into watching a bunch of Aardman stuff, as is often the case when I’m feeling a bit rundown and wanna unwind with something comfortable I know by heart. Normally I stick to revisiting their 80s and 90s shorts, but out of the blue I felt like checking out their earlier feature films again, starting with the first Wallace & Gromit movie. (So weird to say that, by the way. I got into Wallace & Gromit when there was only the first three shorts, and now there’s two films, another short, a mini-series, and various video games. The passage of time is a strange behemoth.)
I haven’t seen this in a good few years, maybe even a decade, and I couldn’t really recall what I generally thought of it. Which is surprising because it turns out that a shocking amount of the movie was decently embedded in my memory from how often I used to watch it. From all the big chase scenes or character moments to the smaller jokes like “arson around” and the nun wrestling magazine in the vicarage, it made for a familiar yet breezy rewatch.
Perhaps because of that, it felt like the film went at a fast clip, never dragging for the most part but letting things linger just long enough to make an impact before we’re off to the next scene. I was often impressed by the simple but clever camera blocking and storyboarding throughout. There’s a handful of scenes that use matching cuts as scene transitions, like those bookending the church meeting, and it’s a technique I always love to see.
Sometimes the cinematography hides things within plain sight, such as the shadow of what appears to be Gromit’s ears lingering in the background after he gets back into the van prior to the first were-rabbit encounter. A more plot critical one is how the rest of the were-rabbit’s footprints are hidden behind the basement door, fooling the viewer as easily they fooled Gromit.
I think the movie manages to maintain a good balance between playing the horror drama straight and throwing in a little bit of silliness without diving headfirst into camp. Much like The Wrong Trousers and A Close Shave were for their respective genres, I can imagine someone watching this and being legitimately spooked at various points. Even I was a little bit caught up in the thrill and suspense by the end, which pleasantly surprised me because I remembered things being a bit more openly silly, along the lines of A Matter of Loaf and Death.
Something I’d forgotten about was how much I enjoyed the late Nicolas Smith as the vicar. I primarily know Smith as the bumbling Mr Rumbold from 70s comedy Are You Being Served?, but I’d originally heard him as the vicar years before and for some reason always found something distinctly comforting and Aardman-ish about his performance in AYBS. It wasn’t until I looked up the actor that I realized that he played both characters and it was likely his role as the vicar that made me feel so at ease.
South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (1999, Dir. Trey Parker) – Rewatch
I haven’t watched or thought much about South Park in roughly 15 years. I have memories of watching a couple of season 1 episodes on VHS at a holiday house in the coastal town of Waterville circa 2006. I bought a couple of the early series on DVD some time after, and pretty vividly remember the endearing goofy fireside episode introductions with Trey, Matt and their constantly changing dog. And of course I watched this movie many, many times. But the series never really stuck with me apart from random lines that’ll inexplicably appear in my mind, and I’m okay with that considering what I’ve heard about the show since from friends who stuck with it.
Yet a couple of those friends were very deeply fond of this film, and I got a bit curious to revisit the show back when it was more irreverent. It was funny to realize now that when I saw this as a kid, I was basically in the same position that the South Park kids were when watching the Terrence and Philip film. Enjoying all the swearing and fart jokes but missing a lot of the other jokes and references to things that made sense to adults but were infinitely baffling to a kid. (I also had no idea what a clitoris was.
What took me by surprise was how much of a genuine big damn musical this movie is, and that it plays itself so straight. It felt like a weird inversion of Beavis and Butthead Do America, where the joke of that movie is that it’s a serious political thriller (“these folks are carrying a biological weapon and must be stopped!”), but Beavis and Butthead are bumbling around in the background. They don’t know the kind of film they’re in, and the film doesn’t know that they don’t know so it goes all in with the big bombastic music, dramatic set-pieces, and characters played by Hollywood stars.
Meanwhile here, the joke is that the movie knows it’s gonna be a big damn musical with surprisingly good songs,and a huge storyline with big emotions, and plays that without a hint of self-consciousness. Only that it’s centered around parents getting upset that a fart movie’s gotten their kids to swear. It’s the kind of film that could only have been made at this specific point in time; American cartoon musicals were still in vogue enough to make the genre shift easily understandable and funny to a casual audience. And because this was when South Park was mainly silly and childish, it can have a lot of fun with itself in a way that’s quite charismatic.
I’m one of those folks that prefers South Park in its very early years, so it was fun to get reacquainted with something in that style but pushing in a direction the show would never dare go.
Chicken Run (2000, Dir. Peter Lord & Nick Park) – Rewatch
Another Aardman revisit, this time of a film that I watched many times as a kid (considering when it came out, it might’ve been one of the earliest movies I saw). However, I think I’ve seen it too many times, because I didn’t get anything new out of it despite how long it’s been since my last viewing. I noticed a couple of very minor background details, like how all the Tweedy family portraits have them looking just as stoically miserable as Mrs Tweedy, but that’s about it.
It’s still quite a good movie. Everything moves along at a brisk pace, there’s a solid mix of atmospheric tension and cheeky comedy that never goes too far in either direction. But the whole picture is too thoroughly ingrained into my membranes for me to have any new thoughts or opinions on it. That hasn’t happened with too many movies thankfully, cuz there’s something faintly sad when it does happen. Like you’ve run out of experiences to have with a work of art, at least on your own, and you’ve gone on autopilot.
I suppose that’s nice too in a way, because it never felt like the movie dragged and I could just relax. Let the muscle memory of your eyes guide you through the motions as you appreciate those old details you’ve always liked. Picking up on the rhythms in a certain line of dialogue, enjoying how John Powell and Harry Gregson-Williams’ music informs the mood, realizing how much Mrs Tweedy’s dead-eyed smile brings to mind Mr Beast. (Apologies to everyone ever for invoking Mr Beast in a cartoon blog.)
I think one of the reasons I’ve been revisiting films is to give myself a relatively easier viewing experience. Sometimes I get too in my own head about keeping alert while experiencing something, noticing as many details as I can and thinking about how it all comes together. And watching movies I’ve seen a good few times helps me to get away from that, to simply be in a familiar moment and enjoy the art for whatever it is to me.
Screencaps for all three films taken from FanCaps.net – https://fancaps.net/
FrDougal9000 writes for hardcoregaming101.net as Apollo Chungus. When he isn’t writing about video games, he is cultivating his love of animation that’s only increased over the last few years as he’s explored the wide, weird and wonderful world of the medium.