Monster House

I just saw the movie Monster House.

It's pretty good. The characters are just a little close to stock characters rather than genuine personalities. But the visuals are shiny, and the story's ok.

Although I bet I would have totally gotten the movie with the sound off. Which I was surprised worked during my trip East 2 weeks ago - with a Woody Allen movie!

Anyway, I'm still not sure how I feel about the motion capture technology used to make Monster House. Same as used to portray Gollum in Lord of the Rings. On the one hand, pretty impressive way to amp up your effects budget. On the other, the animators who shaped human bodies in The Incredibles are true artists who created original body language.

I've read somewhere speculation that Andy Serkis and other motion capture performers might get their own category of award some day. Who knows? My question is, if that happens, are we honoring a new art form, or making actors sit at the little kids' table?