The Woolies – Top films of 2013

by on January 9, 2014 at 12:10 pm
Posted In: Blog, humor, movie reviews

Now that 2013 is past and 2014 is present, it’s reflection time on the best and worst films of the previous year. A few considerations, I didn’t see everything, there are several films I still want to see, and I divided the films into categories that gave the best stuff a chance to win. Sure, it sounds like a rigged game, but when I’m the only one voting, who cares? I’m not a believer in crowning ‘the best of the year.’  The distance between the best and second best drama is shorter than the distance between best drama and best comedy. Hence, the categories shape the winners and there are a few 2013 films that deserve the only award I can give – a Woolie. Here are your ranked winners in their respective categories.

Best Drama – 12 Years A Slave

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A great drama stirs something deep within my emotional core and prioritizes emotional highs and lows. With those criteria, nothing landed a more devastating emotional blow than 12 Years A Slave. Films about slavery tend to focus on the ‘good whites’ rather than the slaves, which distorts the atrocities with narrative misdirection. Made with a subtle hand, incredible acting, and a firm historical grounding, 12 Years A Slave is the most effective, powerful, and important drama of the year.

1 12 Years A Slave

2 Wolf Of Wall Street

3 Mud

4 Much Ado About Nothing

5 American Hustle

6 The Great Gatsby

 

Best Science Fiction – Gravity

gravity

If you haven’t seen it yet, I am sorry. It’s nearly out of most theaters and we’ll have to wait until Oscar season for a rerelease (hopefully in IMAX). If you did see it – wasn’t it amazing? I’ve always loved space movies, but I’ve never been transported there as effectively as in Gravity. The film is the closest I may ever get to space, and what a ride it was. History will remember Gravity, for its near-perfect science, for its technical achievements, and for the powerful thrill and affirmation of humanity it provides.

1 Gravity

2 The World’s End

3 Hunger Games: Catching Fire

4 Pacific Rim

5 Star Trek Into Darkness

6 Ender’s Game

7 Oblivion

8 Elysium

 

Best Fantasy or Historical – Rush

RushMoviePoster

Consider a movie like Saving Mr. Banks. It’s not funny enough to be a comedy, not dramatic enough to beat any dramas, but it can compete in a category for stories we tell about the past, regardless of whether the fantasy is imaginary or adjusted history. With that preamble in mind, the best of the fantasy/historical category is Rush. Competition between Formula 1 racers is a great slice of entertainment, with much of the truth in tact. Whereas, movies that are adaptations of literary works deserve the same attention. However, both of this year’s entries were disappointing and over-stuffed (Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug & Oz The Great and Powerful). Bleh, moving on.

1 Rush

2 Saving Mr. Banks

Best Horror – The Conjuring

conjuring

This wasn’t a strong year for horrors and thrillers. World War Z is more horror than action and it’s one of the most embarrassingly unrelated adaptations of all time. Evil Dead was a darker reboot, but not a better movie. A great horror film shocks you with images and ideas that haunt and the only film that meets the criteria is The Conjuring. There are some fantastic scares, but the chills were more lasting. I hope the inevitable sequels are too horrible that they erase the strength of this film.

1 Conjuring

2 World War Z

3 Evil Dead

4 John Dies At The End

 

Best Animated – no winner

I saw Monster’s University and Despicable Me 2, but I’m convinced The Croods and Frozen were better, even though I didn’t see them. So, I award no Woolie this year. Instead, I award two retroactive Woolies to Tangled and How To Train Your Dragon, which came out in 2010. Congrats!

 

Best Comedy – tie – The Wolf Of Wall Street and The Way Way Back

WallStreet2013poster-202x300 the-way-back

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There may be no more difficult genre to nail down than a comedy. Comedy can be truth told sideways, or the pleasant shock of surprise pratfalls, or a dramatic tale with characters you love so much you laugh when they do. Two of this year’s films caused uncontrollable smiling intermixed with laughter. The Way Way Back is the best version of the ‘summer adventure’ story I’ve seen, with a tight script and great supporting character/actors (Sam Rockwell, Steve Carrell, Alison Janney, Toni Collette). It is a classic that just needs some time to ripen. The same can be said of The Wolf of Wall Street, though it is a different kind of comedy. This is a wild film about excess, which can be both difficult to take and terrifically thrilling. As for acting? DiCaprio at the country club. If you’ve seen the movie, you know the scene. I don’t think I laughed harder at any moment this year. Both of this year’s winners were dramedies, and their success is largely due to their actors (DiCaprio, Rockwell), their earnest approach to comedy, and their brand of sideways truth.

1&2 The Way Way Back & The Wolf Of Wall Street

3 This Is The End

4 Warm Bodies

5 Anchorman 2

6 The Heat

7 Spring Breakers

 

Best Action – The World’s End

worlds_end

I tend to see a lot of action films. Not sure what that says about me, but I’ve seen enough this year to consider it the most competitive category. I don’t mean to say there are a lot of great action films. There aren’t. It was a weak year for action, but while I enjoyed the parade of sequels (Fast And Furious 6, Star Trek Into Darkness, Iron Man 3), none of them thrilled me. Only two action films provided true thrills this year. The first was Pacific Rim, which was ridiculous with just enough crazy to be entertaining. But one action movie was a joy to watch, especially with a beer. The World’s End is a satisfying mix of comedy, science fiction, and action, with inventive fight choreography and a fantastic story. I walked out of the theater ready to take on the world and few action films can claim that distinction.

1 The World’s End

2 Pacific Rim

3 Fast And Furious 6

4 Star Trek Into Darkness

5 Iron Man 3

6 Thor The Dark World

7 Man Of Steel

8 The Lone Ranger

Worst of 2013?

Where was G.I. Retaliation, Kick-Ass 2, or any of the other 100+ movies that came out this year? I briefly considered doing a worst list for each genre, but I can’t evaluate the worst films the same as the best. They’re different animals. I admit, given two bad movies, I often enjoy the worst one more. At the edge of ‘so bad it’s good’ there is a point where the worst films wrap around towards the best. Whereas, a truly bad film fails to live up to its genre and frustrates as much as it disappoints. I felt that way about the following films: Oz the Great and Powerful, Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug, Kick Ass 2, The Wolverine, and Elysium. If you don’t agree, awesome! I love talking about movies, especially when we disagree. Let me know in the comments where I was wrong.

King Sheep never expected G.I. Joe Retaliation to be good and wasn’t disappointed when it sucked

King Sheep never expected G.I. Joe Retaliation to be good and wasn’t disappointed when it sucked

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Coming to a Head

by on December 20, 2013 at 4:00 pm
Posted In: Blog

So this is the end of Coming Distractions.

Or at least the end of the temporal cycle that makes up our comic ouroboros. It’s been six years (minus a two-year break) of ups, downs, and zig-zags on a jet-fueled roller coaster of creativity. The story went from comedic to farcical to existential. Artistically, it was like a Richter scale of experimentation; full color here, black-and-white there, and it maybe there would be shading.

Naturally, I can say I learned a lot about my own process, but I also learned about the collaborative process. Pat Johnson is far and away one of the most creative people on the planet. The sooner he becomes responsible for a mainstream media outlet, the better off we’ll all be. I won’t lie, I’ve got a huge man-crush on him because he can literally come up with an idea for anything any time. So when he focuses his power on developing a story, you have to tie yourself to the mast to keep from being swept up in it.

I’m not sure where we’re going from here, but I do know that it can only be somewhere great. Have a Merry Christmas, everyone, and we’ll see you all in the new year.

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Interview: Nathan Taylor, illustrator of The Princess and Mr. Whiffle: The Dark of the Deep Below

by on December 19, 2013 at 7:47 am
Posted In: Blog, humor, Interview

In honor of the release of The Adventures of the Princess and Mr. Whiffle: The Dark of the Deep Below, King Sheep Productions is excited to offer a not-so-long-awaited sequel interview with award-winning artist Nate Taylor. The first interview employed a video game hierarchy of increasing difficulty, but this interview structure is based on the random encounters and high adventure of a fantasy board game.

Let's roll!

Let’s roll!

Since you’re no stranger to RPG systems, build yourself as a character. For readers who have never met you, please generate your stats on a 1-18 scale, starting with 50 base points.

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INTELLIGENCE – 10
CHARISMA – 7
DEXTERITY – 14
STRENGTH – 8
LUCK – 11
CHARACTER CLASS – Ranger
SPECIAL ATTACK – Distracting Arrow
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Ranger Nate

Ranger Nate

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First Encounter: The Beast Within
Artists are often assumed to be festering balls of neurosis and self doubt, whereas you’re a relatively happy and jolly fellow. How important is your mood when creating art?
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If you mean “mood” like the desire to draw or be creative, I think it’s a great thing to have in your favor. But I can’t rely on it when creating art. As a professional illustrator, it’s much more important to be able to create regardless of whether or not I feel like it.
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However, if you mean “mood” like listening to dreary music in order to paint a dark and somber scene, then it’s very important. Being in the right mindset is crucial to creating an image that speaks to viewers on an emotional level. How’s that for a long-winded answer?
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Just windy enough.
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Swampy Goodness – Find a New Path (and/or boots)
The new book introduces the Princess’s younger brother. How did you go about crafting a new addition to the family? Also, does the Princess age between the books?
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Mobile-cam

Mobile-cam

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The hardest part was nailing down how to make Gubby actually look like a toddler.  It’s all about the cranium proportions.  Once I realized the entire face fits on the lower half of the head, it all came together.  Luckily, I have friends who don’t mind me staring at their kids and making observations.  As for the Princess, I didn’t set out with the intent of making her older, but she probably looks that way since she’s grown up a little in my mind.
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Encounter – The Mirror of Perfect Reflection.
The Dark of the Deep Below is the most recent in a long list of professional collaborations with Patrick Rothfuss. How was working on this book different from your earlier collaborations? Follow up: You’ve known Rothfuss for over 10 years, describe a time when you questioned his sanity.
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This was the longest project with the most revisions we’ve done so far. The best part of the process though was when he was in Seattle for a book signing and we had the opportunity to go over my thumbnails for the pages in person.  Since we live on near-opposite sides of the country, being able to watch his reactions and having him give instant feedback was incredibly helpful in the early stages.
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I think I realized early on that I never had to question Pat’s sanity because he is insane. Fortunately, we were all the same kind of insane, which is probably why we became friends.
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Crazy

Dammit Jim, that’s awesome

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Time Tunnel Time!
If you could send a message in time to a younger version of yourself and give them one sentence of advice from the future, what would you say?
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I would target my 18-year-old self and say, “No matter how much you hate working in color, you need to learn how to do it.”   I’m still getting the hang of color theory.
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When he got the hang of it

How Nate’s color is currently hanging

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Treasure!
As pioneers in a new genre of graphic fiction (children’s books for adults), what has been the best perk of your trailblazing (excluding money and fame)?
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I’d say the best part is that it surprises people when they read it.  With all the re-hashing of familiar stories and tropes that’s going on in modern media, it’s wonderful to be able to give people something novel.  The downside is that it still takes me 30 seconds to fully answer the question “what kind of book is it?”
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Tragedy has struck!
What if you lost both your hands? Would you be the kind of artist who learns to draw with your feet or with a pen wedged between your teeth? Or are you the more tragic variety who would commit himself to a new career path of alcohol and self-destruction?
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This is a little difficult to explain, but I actually draw much more with arm movements.  So if I lost both hands, I might have trouble making fine strokes, but I’d be mostly okay to draw with a pencil taped to my wrist.  But let’s say I lost both arms.  I think I would give the whole pencil-in-mouth thing a go, but if that didn’t work out then I’d just find another creative outlet to tell my stories through.  Alcohol optional.
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Treasure!

B.Y.O.Yum!

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Double Trouble!
Cloning is real and you have been selected to have a brand new doppelganger in your life. What jobs would Clone-You’s be given and which jobs would you keep for yourself?
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I was once told that if I cloned myself, I’d just have more me’s being lazy.  But let’s take the Multiplicity approach where I can delegate lifestyles.  Optimally, I would create six clones for Drawing, Writing, Recreation, Chores, Socializing, and Sleep.  But rather than dedicating one clone to each area, I would alternate clones through the different aspects in four-hour intervals so that each clone would maintain healthy diversity, and I would constantly be producing and relaxing and socializing.
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The path to victory?
If the success of the new book were to vault you to super stardom and you could work with anyone in the film, comic, or television industry, what’s your passion project and who is your dream partner?
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I’d work with Dreamworks Animation to make a CGI animated series of my Deep Six story, and get it picked up for a series on a cable network or Netflix.
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Princess-Cover-2
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Final Challenge: Your artist’s signature has a wonderful flair. Write a Hiaku about it.
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Like flower’s petals,
Angry strokes and soft swishes,
Lots of time spent there.
rsz_photo128
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