Irishchatter
At the beginning, I absolutely loved the music, it was so catchy that you can dance all day! However, I think the animation and the storyline was a bit downhill. I thought the drawings of the women looked like they needed work. I have to say, not all drawings were that terrible but they needed to be spiced up pretty badly! I don't expect it 3-D as we have nowadays, at least the animators should draw better then that!The storyline was OK, it did make sense but after watching over 20 minutes of the movie, I just immediately got bored with it. I think the whole thing didn't make sense to me! I'm only giving this a 3 because I liked the funny images especially McDonald's on the moon at the beginning and the jazz music. That's all I have to say about watching this. ...
marcusbrainard
There is one scene that I noticed. When Pete was delivering the coke to people who are users he stops at a synagogue and sees a Rabbi and what he doesn't know his great-great grandfather was one. Stayed around and showed his respect by dancing to his chants and singing. And Pete was the one who went on to the big time. There was Jacob The Rabbi, Zalmie, Benny, Tony & Pete. Zalmie was the brave soul who saw his family being taken out and wasn't afraid to death when he testified at the hearing, he had nothing to lose for that. In short this was a good movie and I do have a copy for it. Also there was a good scene when Tony got high on LSD from a patron and everything went bad for Tony. The worst LSD trip I can think about is seeing all kinds of disasters happening in front of me and being chased by a little girl in a 1951 Packard Hearse and other childhood terrors.
crucifido
From his directing Tom 7 Jerry cartoons (some of the oddest most memorable ones as well), to Wizards, to Lord Of The Rings, to American Pop, the guy developed a heck of a diverse resume' fro himself.Reading the reviews here I think a lot of people are misguided as to how the animation in this film was done. This film was 99% rotoscoped (sans the backgrounds, still background characters and various environments).While it does look really good rotscoping involves artists basically tracing over acted out sequences. Think "A Scanner Darkly", if you want to get a more modern grasp on it. So yeah, the animation is clean and smooth, but it's not necessarily "pure" animation, like a Pixar film or a Bugs Bunny cartoon. The designs of the characters, their movement and their behavior is so life-like because, well it was performed by actual people. So knowing that maybe some views you read on the animation and how perfect it is can be looked at with a grain of salt.Anyway, the movie is entertaining and at times hypnotizing to watch. It's a great study in the era of film making and art it was done in. Films like this wouldn't be accepted by today's audiences and it's kind of a shame.The story is entertaining enough, though for em the incredibly heavy East coast accents could have been toned down some. After an hour of it, it can become a bit of an endurance contest, and at the least distracting.If nothing else, it's recommended viewing for the animation fan, for those who want to see the art of rotoscoping and for fans of Bakshi and his gritty form of storytelling.
MARIO GAUCI
The narrative of this Bakshi animated film follows the showbiz aspirations of a Jewish émigré family through four generations (from turn-of-the-century to the present, i.e. early 1980s), taking in the various turbulent world events and reflecting the often radical changes in culture which occurred during all this time.An ambitious if heavy-handed undertaking (Bakshi's trademark realism, displayed through rotoscoped animation, occasionally interspersed with stock footage) which is patchy overall but frequently impressive - and undeniably evocative. The necessarily eclectic soundtrack, too, is a major asset even if the last half does lean too heavily on the the hippie/rock scene; it's also amusing how the script presents the band which the protagonist eventually forms part of as the talent behind many of the best-known rock songs from the era by the likes of Big Brother And The Holding Company, Jefferson Airplane, The Jimi Hendrix Experience, The Sex Pistols and even my own favorite, The Velvet Underground!!
AD
