Dragon Hunters (PG)
Shown as part of the Animate the World week at the Barbican.
Dragon Hunters tells the story of two failing dragon hunters; the knitting Lian-Chu, and Gwizdo the money grabbing brains of the operation. They live in a beautifully rendered 3d futuristic, medieval world of floating land masses that is terrorized by dragons. They meet up with the kings niece, Zoe who persuades them to travel to the end of the world and kill the dragon that is making the world evil and dark.
Although visually excellent, the storyline was dull and lifeless. Compared to other recent kids animations (Ratatouie, Shrek the 3rd) it doesn't have the jokes and the quick thinking the characters seem to have.
HoneyDripper (PG)
John Sayles new film Honeydripper is filmed and set completely in Alabama in the 1950's. Tyrone "Pinetop" Purvice is a club owner and an ex musician who is trying to make ends meet with a failing club. His last chance is "Guitar Sam" a well known musician, unfortunately when it comes for him to play he is nowhere to be found.
The musical score (composed by Mason Daring) is toe tapping fun and includes Delta Blues, Stride Piano, Gospel and Rhythm & Blues. This film would definately be good for anybody interested in the history of black music but for me it dragged on and on and came to a very predictable ending.
