Orange(Wednesday)s and Lemons #89

*The OWLs are back for their nearly-90th outing, and yet again we’re bidding farewell to a stalwart BFFer. It’s Rayne’s last week – will the immediacy of her demise give her even greater film-picking wisdom? You’ll have to wait and see…*

John (in a badman place):
This week I’m basically ignoring the entire world’s cinematic output in favour of mooning after a gig I wanted to go to five years ago. Celebration Day, the concert film of Led Zeppelin’s spectacular 2007 reunion gig (complete with John Paul Bonham’s son Jason on drums) is hitting cinemas today so the rest of the 20 million of us who applied for tickets first time round can finally get up close and personal with the Zep. My lemon goes to Hotel FrankenNorman – I don’t care which one of them you want to see, you’re wrong. Animated children’s Hallowe’en films aren’t going to buy you a stairway to Heaven.

Orange Choice: Celebration Day
Ultimate Lemon: Anything else

 

Kayleigh (the latest victim of Broken Britain):
The owls had been gone for so very long that we here at Best For Film feared they’d done a Hedwig on us. But, thankfully, they’ve heard our Wednesday call and returned JUST IN TIME to let me rave about Frankenweenie. It may be a black and white stop-motion animation. It may be a Tim Burton original – the same Tim Burton who gave us Dark Shadows not too long ago. It may be a horrible idea for me, having recently lost my own dog (RIP Zeus), to go and see it at all. But I’m still painting this one a cheery shade of orange – and I’m taking along a notebook to get me some dead-dog-raising science tips. On the other hand, Paranormal Activity 4 can go fuck itself. If I wanted to see a terrifying story played out on a shaky handheld camera, I’d go dig out my gran’s collection of home videos. Honestly.

Orange Choice: Frankenweenie
Ultimate Lemon: Paranormal Activity 4

 

Alex (all of the pixels, all of the time):
Hallowe’en is fast approaching, and following hot on the heels of the ace ParaNorman comes another stop-motion horror-themed animation. And while it’s not *quite* as good as ParaNorman, Tim Burton’s Frankenweenie is absolutely worth an hour and a half of your time. Bursting with references to the classic horror movies of old, it’s a beautifully evocative homage and pastiche, with enough grin-inducing moments to make your face ache. While the middle sags, the ending is a total joy, as a legion of nightmare-pets wreak Gremlins-esque havoc all over town. It may be black and white, but Frankenweenie is all Orange today. On a similarly Hallowe’en-themed animation kick, my lemon is going to Hotel Transylvania. I haven’t even seen it yet (that “treat” awaits me later this evening), but there’s virtually no way I can see it holding a candle(lit pumpkin) to either of the previously mentioned films. It gets my lemon merely for putting Adam Sandler and Andy Samberg back together for the second time in as many months. You should all know my feelings about That’s My Boy by now. The residual sick taste in my mouth earns Hotel Transylvania a lemon by default.

Orange Choice: Frankenweenie
Ultimate Lemon: Hotel Transylvania

 

Rayne (dying by degrees):
My Orange is going to Ruby Sparks, a film concerning the odd approach to writer’s block taken by a struggling writer (played by dilf Paul Dano). Sporting a strong cast that includes Annette Bening and Elliot Gould, it looks like an intelligent and unique drama. My lemon is going to Paranormal Activity 4. This whole franchise has milked their scary cash cow to death. For shame!

Orange Choice: Ruby Sparks
Ultimate Lemon: Paranormal Activity 4

 

*Nope, no extra wisdom this week – Ruby Sparks looks dreadful. Peace out!*

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