Nick

* Looks at header pic *

Maybe he can replace Dermot Morgan so we could get some new Father Ted episodes.

I hope that this film eventually gets the attention and respect it deserves because this is more than just another animated film.
There's a level of talent and hard work here, across the board, that I haven't seen in an animation since the wonderful Mary & Max.
Putting aside the technical aspects, this is funny, subversive, uncompromising and dark and it certainly does earn it's PG rating. The ending isn't a particular happy one, especially for one character whose story is actually quite tragic.
To some extent, the writers "Fuck you" attitude to making a bland inoffensive film is perfectly summed up near the end with the "boyfriend" line. It would have been so easy to edit it out and sell a few more units, that they left it in is a principle worthy of respect.
Watch it, and watch Mary and Max too. They're both awesome.

The guy was a class act, principled in his obvious independence (something sorely lacking in most reviewers) & almost always spot-on with his reviews. He'll be genuinely missed by people looking for an honest opinion.

Suffers from the same paradoxes, contradictions & flatout logic failures that afflict every other time travel film. It cant be ignored once you start questioning character motivations.

Really very good and pretty much nothing to do with Scientology or cults. It is all about the mechanics between 2 people who need each other.
Freddie is a broken man who needs help (Dodd isn't far wrong when calls Freddie an animal) and is forced by Dodd to confront his past, control his temper and look ahead, all through techniques which, while unconventional, are actually based on existing psychological ideas.

Dodd is actually a good man and really believes in what he's saying but he is alone and in need of validation. His ideas and methods are questioned by everyone around him, the police are on his back, his wife has taken his philosophy and turned it from a benevolent act into the beginnings a fundamentalist aggressive church, all Dodd has is Freddie. In Freddie, Dodd finds validation that his methods work, as well as a friend, pet and guinea-pig.
The final scene between Freddie and Dodd *where Freddie is essentially recovered and decided to leave, actually works as an ending. It's a reversal of the first session, Freddie no longer needing Dodd but trying to help him, Dodd sad and alone, bitter at being abandoned by his only true follower.*

I saw Brave last week and had I not known better, I would have said that was the Disney film and this was the Pixar film.
The review is spot-on that this world is ripe for far more exploration but what's here is enough. I kinda loved it and the Superman moment at the end is genuinely touching.

Reading the forums what's really annoyed me in all this is repeatedly seeing

"Lighten up you girl, its a joke"

A) Firstly, thanks for making the point. Obviously being a girl is insulting
B) Jokes are meant to be funny
C) Being a joke is not an excuse for doing whatever you want.

I dont know about you people but Im pretty bloody sick of "Its a joke" being a get out of jail free card for acting like a prick. I should create my own Ashton Douchebag show where I go around slapping people & then disarm with that excuse & a tv camera, before they pummel me.

Satire requires a counter-point, a wink or obvious sarcasm. For me to believe that MacFarlane was only pretending to be an arrogant misogynistic prick, Id have needed to see some sign that he isnt. Ive never seen any such sign that its an act.
As for the mouthbreathers on the forums, I take a little comfort in knowing that most of them only act that way because they have anonymity on the net & dont have the balls to behave that way in the real world. Thats why MacFarlane isnt acceptable, you can get away with that shit in animation but when you bring it into the real world you can see how ugly is it.

Did you just take a swipe at Im A Cyborg? Excuse me while I find my bitchslap glove.

Disappointing. Disneys dirty, gutless fingers are all over this one, I can barely believe its a Pixar film given how sparse & without thematic depth it is.
Its still a 7/10 & had it been a Disney film it'd be the best thing theyd done in nearly 20 years but for Pixar its their 2nd disappointing film in a row.