Ice Age in the Immediate Future Pt. I: Arctic by Nadir, released 04. Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more. From The Sixth Extinction, track released December 4, 2017.

`Ice Age' emerges as one of the better animated films of recent years, cleverly designed and even more cleverly written. Scenarists Michael Berg, Michael J. Wilson and Peter Ackerman have devised a story set 20,000 years ago about an unlikely trio of companions who find themselves making a long trek through a harsh environment in an effort, ostensibly, to return a baby human to the tribe from which he has become separated. The triumvirate is made up of a deadpan, cynical mammoth, a wisecracking, over-the-top sloth (whose mile-a-minute mouth more than makes up for his legendary slowness) and a malevolent saber-tooth tiger, who learns a thing or two about friendship and teamwork before the adventure is over. Harry potter deathly hallows part 2 in hindi free download. `Ice Age' is at its most amusing in those scenes in which the characters make prescient jokes about their own place in the evolutionary scheme of things. One particularly clever scene involves the three travelers discovering what looks like an underground museum of natural history encased in ice, replete with ancient creatures caught in naturally occurring, chain-of-life exhibits. Like most animated films set in the past, `Ice Age' derives much of its humor through the use of anachronism.

We chuckle to hear these creatures applying modern, scientific knowledge to the pre-scientific era in which they are living. The animators and designers have done a beautiful job in achieving just the right look for this tale. The backgrounds have a colorful, clean, streamlined look to them, and the animals themselves, in their appearance and design, provide a witty commentary on evolutionary history.

Ray Romano, John Leguizamo and Denis Leary do superb voiceover work, each achieving just the right tone for the character he has been assigned to play. One could wish, perhaps, for a bit less sentimentality at the end, but that is a minor quibble in a film that works so well for both children and adults. The kids will revel in the cuteness of the animals and the clever action sequences, while adults will savor the sly knowingness of the evolutionary and historical in-jokes. Not bad in an era when most films can't find a way to please even ONE audience demographic.

When Scrat accidentally provokes a continental cataclysm with a storm, Manny is separated from Ellie and Peaches on an iceberg with Diego, Sid and Granny but he promises that he will find a way to return home. While crossing the ocean, they are captured by the cruel pirate Captain Gutt and his crew. However they escape and Manny plots a plan to steal Captain Gutt's ship and return to his homeland in a dangerous voyage through the sea. But the cruel pirates seek revenge against Manny and his family and friends.

As with most sequels, the quality of the Ice Age movies is definitely regressing. I've enjoyed the others in the series (well, actually, I haven't seen The Meltdown, but I've seen the original and Dawn of the Dinosaurs) but I found Continental Drift to be disappointing in comparison. The animation is good as always, but there's too much in this that's too similar to what we've seen before (and, frankly, Scrat the sabre-toothed squirrel is getting tired and boring; same sub-plot every single time.) In Continental Drift the original content came across to me as silly and overdone. As the land begins to drift apart (quite suddenly) Manny, Sid and Diego are trapped on a floating block of ice, desperately trying to get back to their 'herd.' Then they spend basically the entire movie fighting a gang of pirates led by a primate named Captain Gutt.