When Marnie was There Review

June 14, 2015June 14, 2015 | Rachel's Reviews

Get out the tissues for more than just a heart-wrenching movie. I have now seen what is evidently the last Studio Ghibli film. This is my response to that reality:

The last film is called When Marnie was There and I’m happy to say if they are going to go out this is a great one. I LOVED it!

Here’s my youtube review. I’d love if you guys give it a watch and a thumbs up. (I said wrong name on my youtube review. Sorry)

It’s about a girl named Anna who is clinically depressed. So much so she wishes she was dead. As a foster daughter she is deeply loved but still struggles with feeling unwanted and unloved. She says at the beginning ‘there are some people who fit in the circle and there are some that are outside”. She has resigned herself to being an outsider and thinks she is incapable of both giving and receiving love from anyone. I was really impressed with how deep they were willing to go. This is no cliched ‘down in the dumps’ kind of depression. This is real despair.

Worried about her, Anna’s mother sends her to a relative in the country to try and help her with her asthma and get her emotions back from this dark place. The animation is gorgeous in the countryside, some of Studio Ghibli’s best.

The sound mixing is also excellent. When she walks through grass it sounds like someone walking through grass. The rain and water sounds are so authentic. I don’t normally notice things like that but in this case it was wonderful and really gave a lush rich and textured feel to the movie.

Anna likes to sketch and one day she stumbles upon a marshland with a big mansion at one end.

Eventually she notices a teen like herself at the house. She has long blonde hair, blue eyes and seems like almost a ghost on the lake. She comes and goes at odd times and there is something other-worldly about her.
Anna dives further into the mystery of the marsh and the mansion and as she does a relationship between her and the girl named Marnie develops.

Some might see it as a lesbian romance but because of things we learn I think it is a deep and abiding friendship. Regardless they love each other and through the experience Anna begins to realize she is worthy of love and that she has great love in her life. She learns her value to the world and that’s a story arc that almost always works for me.

I was bawling my eyes out! I would say more but I really don’t want to spoil it for all of you. It is very clever and does not wash away her mental illness too easily. She grows little bit by little bit over a summer and really comes to know who she is. She even can be a jerk at times because she is so nervous about being rejected. That all felt totally authentic to me of someone dealing with a mental illness.

I felt like Anna was very close to hurting herself (like I said very dark) and Marnie is the equivalent of an angel sent to rescue a lost soul. I also loved the mystery element and like all good Studio Ghibli films I wasnt quite sure where it was all going. The climax in a silo was exciting and heart wrenching.

If I was going to nitpick I wasn’t that crazy with the US dubbing they did. It just didn’t seem to fit and normally Ghibli does a great job. I also thought the music was just ok (Kaguya had one of the best scores I’ve ever heard). The Priscilla Ahn song is nice during the credits. I love her but the score was average by Ghibli standards

But other than that I loved it. I thought it was bold and took a girl from a dark place to one of joy and happiness in a believable way. It’s a movie about hope and how we all have people rooting for us. Friendship and a knowledge of our eternal worth is what gives us hope and makes life worth living and Anna realizes that and is a new vibrant woman as a result. (In a way it is kind of like Field of Dreams. Other worldly message from the past to heal wounds and move forward).

The mystery surprised me at times and kept a brisk pace. The love overwhelmed me and the animation is stunning. It is definitely one I will want to get on blu-ray and it holds its own with the Studio Ghibli greats. If you can find it near you please go and see it. These studios need to know we love their work. Maybe someone else will pick up the banner with Studio Ghibli leaving us?

Here’s the trailer

Overall Grade A

Until then bye, bye Studio Ghibli. I love you!

Jurassic World Review

June 13, 2015June 13, 2015 | Rachel's Reviews

So I just got the chance to see one of the big movies from the summer, Jurassic World. It is the 3rd sequel to the 1993 classic- a movie I saw in the theater 6 times because it hung around my town theaters forever. It’s interesting because I don’t normally like scary movies but I’ve always had a nostalgia for the original.

Jurassic Park 2 was a disappointment with the scenes in San Diego feeling more like a Godzilla movie than Jurassic Park. Jeff Goldblum as the skeptic makes 2 watchable along with Steven Spielberg’s direction. 3 is just plain silly with Tea Leoni shrieking her way through every scene.

After all that we get Jurassic World and they acknowledge all of the previous films. There are little hints, easter eggs for all 3 throughout the movie (something I did enjoy).

That said it makes for a premise that to me was hard to get on board. It’s supposed to be 20 years after the original movie. That means how many years since San Diego and the island in the 3rd? It takes a long time to build a park like they show in Jurassic World and yet they not only built it, contained the dinosaurs, and convinced 20k people to come all the way to Coasta Rica on a regular basis after what happened in San Diego? No way. (And like I said the previous movies actually come into play so it is not a moot point).

I went into the movie hoping they would convince me that such a park could really exist and I was not convinced.

But let’s accept that it does and move on. Surprisingly I didn’t hate this movie. In fact, if you want a popcorn movie it is entertaining on that level.

Basically they have the park up and running and Bryce Dallas Howard is the corporate non-kid friendly woman in heels we’ve seen in a million other movies. She was such a weak uninteresting character. And there is a scene where she literally outruns a t-rex in heels!

She makes such idiotic choices again and again. It’s the equivalent of a person in a horror movie who decides to keep going back into the house of the crazy person. Evacuate the island! (Laura Dern is sorely missing in this one, or even Julianne Moore).

Chris Pratt plays an animal trainer who has managed to train 4 raptors who he has given names. I really liked his character and just as in Guardians of the Galaxy, he is funny and sarcastic and very confident.

There are also other solid side characters like Irrfan Khan as the CEO of Jurassic World who is a little more sensible than Howard’s Claire. BD Wong also makes an appearance (another wink to original movie).

(How does he look exactly the same from 1993?)

We also get Claire’s nephews played kind of blandly by Nick Robinson and Ty Simpkins. I heard an interview with them and they asked what they would do differently than their characters in the movie? The little boy said “I would be smarter than they were” Yep, they aren’t the sharpest tools in the shed.

The key that makes this movie watchable and entertaining is the cat and mouse chase between the dinosaurs and the people. Claire and the park has created a new creation called Indominous Rex. Evidently people have gotten bored with a regular T-rex.
Funny because nobody has gotten tired of Shamu? Circus’ still draw crowds with their elephants. I think people would be plenty excited for a t-rex!
The new Rex is unpredictable and breaks out killing dinosaurs and causing mass panic. It was pretty scary but not too scary.

This part of the movie worked as spectacle and I was entertained by it (and it is a lot of the movie so that is saying something). Because it is a new dinosaur we haven’t seen in 1-3 it was a little unpredictable but my friend and I kept whispering to each other ‘ah she’s a goner’. It was so easy to predict who was dinosaur fare and who wasn’t.

Vincent D’Onofrio plays a black hawk type security guy who wants to take the dinosaurs and use them for warfare. This whole plotline even for a stupid popcorn movie was so ridiculous. I couldn’t wait for him to get off screen and get back to the dinosaurs. The idea after San Diego of controlling the indominus rex or even the raptors is so absurd.

I’m making it sound like I didn’t like it very much but that isn’t the case. It is stupid and dopey but some good scares and Pratt is charismatic so I was entertained. I think the average moviegoer will go and enjoy themselves.

It could have been much better and the ending is too dark. I couldn’t tell what was doing what. And I though the iconic music was way underused. I guess they didn’t get John Williams to do any new variations on his themes? It wasn’t grand enough for this kind of popcorn movie.

Like I said if you want to go to the movies and see kid-friendly scares and laugh at the dopey characters and story than you’ll enjoy it. If you can’t dive into an imperfect movie than give it a pass.

Any of you seen it? What did you think? What do you think of all the winks to the other movies?

As far as content there are lots of kills but minimal blood and some scares but nothing a kid old enough to see the Harry Potter movies can’t handle. There’s a very silly scene where a woman rolls up her sleeves and unbuttons her shirt to show she’s tough…groan but that’s about all the skin you get. Minimal language.

Overall Grade- C Content Grade- B+

Also even with inflation how did this cost 50 million more than the original. A few of the special effects looked really green screened and cheesy? Hollywood needs to get the budgets under control.

Disneynature 6: African Cats

June 12, 2015 | Rachel's Reviews

Next up in my review of the Disneynature films is African Cats. It marks a change in the canon on how the films are told. The previous films have been more standard documentaries. In African Cats we get an attempt at a narrative with character names ascribed to the animals and a supposed story they are telling. If you read my review of Monkey Kingdom which I did out of order they totally describe a social structure, conflict and personality to the monkeys. I don’t know how much of that is hogwash but it does make the films more accessible for the average moviegoer that does not like documentaries.

African Cats tells the story of 2 families of ‘cats’ a single mom Cheetah named Sita with 5 cubs, and Mara and her mother Layla who are lionesses part of a pride. Like with the monkeys they attempt to show a contrast between the lonely isolated cheetahs and the pack of lions that do everything together.

Most of the movie is both cheetahs and lions trying to get food. As both species are carnivores this means it is the most bloody of any of the Disneynature films I’ve seen to date. Many animals are hunted and eaten with blood on the faces of the lions and cheetahs. This might be upsetting to very small children but I asked my friends and they all agreed their kids can handle it.

The little cubs are so cute that it helps with those scenes. Plus, the lions face their own foe that wants to eat them when they have to cross a river filled with crocodiles. As my friend said “they get the whole “circle of life” thing”…

Speaking of circle of life I am a little surprised there wasn’t more analogies made to the Lion King. I think James Earl Jones might have been a cool narrator instead of Samuel L Jackson. Since they are doing a narrative it might have been fun to have a few winks at Lion King or maybe some of the music thrown in?

Let’s start with the many positives of African Cats. It looks amazing. How they were able to get some of these shots I will never know. You are watching these lions tear apart a zebra from limb to limb or a cheetah chase down an antelope or jackle and wondering how the filmmakers aren’t completely terrified?

The vistas of the African safari are stunning. You get these amazing panning shots of herds of wildebeests and the cheetah sprinting at an insane pace. Practically every shot I was left wondering ‘how the heck did they do that?’ and it almost looks fake it is so good.

Also the question of the pride over the cheetah being solo has an interesting dimension for talking with kids about being self-reliant vs relying on others. Working together vs being strong on your own. Both have value and can be a functional part of nature as we see with the cheetahs and the lions.

If the scenes of carnage are a little much it could also be a chance to discuss nature with your children which is a good learning opportunity.

The downsides to African Cats is at 89 minutes it is definitely too long. It could have had a good 15 minutes cut and not missed a beat. There were sections where I started to lose interest- maybe we have one hunting sequence too many?

My other flaw is the narration can feel a little forced and heavy handed. You can tell they were just testing out the adding a story to nature thing and there were segments I wished I could turn the narration off and just watch the animals. I was not emotionally invested in the story like I was with the flamingo movie (still the best of Disneynature by a considerable margin) Crimson Wing. Samuel L Jackson is fine as the narrator but I don’t know if he has the gravitas needed for a project like this. He sometimes seemed a little bored.

But flaws aside it is a beautiful film about some of God’s most amazing creatures. The power of the lion and the speed of cheetah are awe inspiring.

Overall Grade- B

What about you guys? Do you get upset seeing animal-on-animal hunting and killing? Do your kids get upset by that kind of scene? Any of you seen African Cats? It’s a pretty good movie.

Zootopia Teaser

June 11, 2015June 13, 2015 | Rachel's Reviews

Big news today in the Disney world! We got our first teaser trailer for next year’s Zootopia.

Up until now I had seen the image of the fox and rabbit but that’s about it. I still kind of wish it was more like the concept art we got early on but I was charmed by the teaser. I think it looks really funny and clever.

The only thing that makes me a little bit nervous is I hope they don’t go overboard in trying to be ‘hip’ and ‘cool’. Some of the character designs bring back nightmares of Chicken Little but I trust John Lasseter wouldn’t let that happen again. I also hope it isn’t too ‘shreckish’ with winky jokes only parents would get. I hate that.

But worries aside I feel really positive about the trailer. I think it is something different. Disney hasn’t done anthropomorphized in a while and the voice talent should be good. Over all I’m excited about the project. Especially because it is coupled with the more traditional Moana. Something for everyone.

What do you think of the teaser and Zootopia?

Hit Me With Your Best Shot: Amadeus

June 10, 2015June 4, 2015 | Rachel's Reviews

This post marks my second entry in The Film Experiment series called Hit Me With Your Best Shot. It’s a fun project where various bloggers all watch a movie (or pick 1 out of 3) and then have the difficult task of selecting 1 shot that in your eyes captures said film.

My first entry was the daunting Citizen Kane but today proved to be difficult in its own way. This weeks film is a different kind of masterpiece- Milos Forman’s 1984 film Amadeus. (Which was my 1984 selection in Movies From My Life btw)

Based on the play from Peter Shaffer it tells a fictionalized version of Amadeus Mozart’s (Tom Hulce) life. It is done through a foil and narrator Antonio Salieri (F Murray Abraham) who in his words is ‘the patron Saint of mediocrity”. He wants to compose music so badly but he is not given the special talents by God, which he bitterly resents especially when a buffoon like Mozart seems to be so blessed.

Part of the problem is Salieri’s warped view of religion. He thinks he can make a deal with God. If he is a ‘model of virtue’ than God will bless him with great talent. If this was the case then we would all be making deals with God…Salieri claims at the beginning that he works hard, prays and gives many lessons for free. This reminds me of the rich man who asks Christ what he needs to do to make it into heaven. “Sell all your possessions and give to the poor”. He goes away sorrowing. Jesus knows there is that one part of his heart which is not given to God. Salieri is much the same way. He goes through the motions of faith without being open to God’s plan for him. He thinks he can earn the benevolence of God and that he knows what is better for his life than God- the ultimate in pride.

This is when that green-eyed monster called envy creeps in and Salieri allows it to fill his heart. Whenever he hears Mozart’s music he is overcome by its perfection and the animosity grows stronger until it finally births a plan for revenge- not just on his rival but on God for being so foolish in his gift-giving. He even burns the cross he is so bitter.

As is usually the case with envy Mozart is completely oblivious to the hold he has over Salieri. He has plenty of his own demons to focus on with a father who is never happy, substance abuse and a public that is not always accepting to his work. In the great irony Salieri is one of the few who consistently realizes the genius of Mozart and yet that leads to his eventual death and demise.

Amadeus does a lot of things as good as any movie I’ve seen. It looks great, the opera’s feel real and lush, music is sublime, costumes wonderful and a little surprising (for example, the pink wig is unexpected in a period piece). But all that aside its greatest achievement to me is two-part:

1. It shows how envy will ruin your life. Unlike last years Whiplash, Amadeus seems to say that we are either born with talent or we are mediocre. Mozart needs no Terence Fletcher to beat the talent out of him. It’s just there. That may be true but surely Salieri could have done better if he had not allowed his rival to overtake him? He certainly could have been happier. As an old man he is in despair, mired with guilt and all because he couldn’t be happy at the blessings of another. No wonder envy is a deadly sin!

2. It shows the sublime beauty of a person absorbing a masterpiece better than any film I’ve seen. That moment when Salieri first hears Mozart’s music is perfect. He’s just looking at the notes on the page but he hears it in his mind and it almost overwhelms him, even years later he is overcome with the beauty of the music. This is why he thinks it is God speaking through Mozart because only a deity could inspire such breathtaking work.

The problem with the grandeur of music shots is you really need the whole scene to get the majesty of it.

You need to hear Salieri talking about the ‘almost comic’ start, “just a pulse” and then the wind instruments and an “oboe. A single note, hanging there unwavering. Until a clarinet took over and sweetened it into a phrase of such a delight” ‘ This is music “filled with such longing, such unfulfillable longing, it had me trembling. It seemed to me that I was hearing the voice of God”.

I think that’s the most beautiful description of music or art I’ve ever heard. But like I said, you need the whole scene (a tribute I think to Shaffer’s amazing script).

So I will go with the envy shot. I am going to pick old Salieri with very convincing makeup. In the narrative he has just determined his plan for revenge on Mozart and God. He describes the funeral and what a delicious day it will be for him. Pointing to himself he says “And God is forced to listen! Powerless, powerless to stop it! I, for once in the end, laughing at him!” You can just feel the bitterness oozing out of this face. I love that he is pointing at himself because it is the envy in his heart that is the problem not God, not Mozart, not anyone else.

THE SHOT-

But in fact, he is the only one left laughing at himself. “Mediocrities everywhere I absolve you!”

Pixar Review 15: The Incredibles

June 10, 2015June 10, 2015 | Rachel's Reviews

I’ve mentioned on this blog I have only recently gotten into the superhero movie genre. For years they were too explosion heavy and stupid without any interesting characters. With Avengers started a new trend (at least for me) of charismatic actors playing likable characters with interesting stories. Each year it seems they get stronger till last year we had 3 excellent entries with X-men Days of Future Past, Captain America: Winter Soldier and Guardians of the Galaxy. Each of these movies were puzzles with entertaining characters and good stories.

During the superhero dry spell there were 2 movies that poked through the dreck Spiderman 2 and The Incredibles. Hercules was actually Disney’s first attempt at making a comic book movie but Pixar’s The Incredibles was their first true superhero movie. But like any good genre movie The Incredibles rises above it to be great on so many levels.

I think every movie fan has certain touchpoints in movies that when they are there it is almost always a win. Some of mine are flying, the ocean, true love, musicals, work, and feeling uncomfortable in your own skin. The last two are particularly prevalent in The Incredibles but perhaps not messages people first think of. But I know for me The Incredibles is great because it is a movie about work and coming to terms with your own story. It’s also a great movie about family and the power of a strong marriage.

Like any good movie about work The Incredibles starts out showing Bob and Helen Parr’s potential to do great things- to be super. But through a brilliant opening montage we learn they must hide their abilities and attempt to live a normal life. For Helen this means be a housewife to her 3 children which she can tolerate enough. However, for Bob it means working in what I call ‘cubicle hell’ in a job selling insurance policies.

This is not who Bob is. Other people could be perfectly happy selling insurance but he is miserable because he was made for better things. I know how that feels. I’ve been in that cubicle knowing I could do more, be more, and it is the worst feeling ever. Sure bad things happen all the time but it is a different kind of awful to be stuck permanently with an unhappy mediocre life.

Bob’s boss is this tiny little shrill man which makes for the greater contrast with Bob and their interactions are very funny. He wants to do something good with his life. He wants to tell the story he’s supposed to tell. It’s the same reason I love The Little Mermaid. Ariel isn’t happy because she isn’t being the person she knows she is supposed to be. I really believe it is an important part of human existence to find out what you are supposed to give the world and then do it. And I’ve been in the Ariel/Bob spot where I knew I didn’t belong and had to make a change.

I also relate to Dash Parr, Bob and Helen’s youngest son who has the gift of being super fast. He wants to use his gift but he can’t. He is told to not express that. He makes the brilliant point “when everyone is special, nobody is”. (You all can see why I like Frozen so much right…same message of a child told to hide their gifts). I can remember as a little girl feeling like I couldn’t share my heart very well. I told my family in one argument “I’m the weird one here but at school I’m the normal one”. Just like Ariel and Dash didn’t quite belong. I think a lot of people can relate to that feeling.

But then Bob (Mr Incredible voiced by Craig T Nelson) gets the opportunity to start using his skills again. And what happens? He is happy. He gets in shape. He smiles more. He and his wife (Elastigirl voiced by Helen Hunt) don’t argue as much. He’s telling the right story so he is in a good place. He’s doing the work he was made to do. He even gets a new flashy supersuit from the hilarious fashionista Edna (director Brad Bird).

Unfortunately it isn’t as simple as he at first hopes. It turns out a young boy who was bothering him during the glory days has grown bitter and wants to enact revenge on all superheroes especially his former idol Mr Incredible. He wants to be the hero but with his own inventions not the help of super powers. He is a very chilling, scary villain, partly because he knows all the villain cliches. At one point he says ‘you got me monologuing!”

Eventually the entire family becomes involved in fighting Syndrome and it is in the last third the movie becomes more of a standard superhero movie but still entertaining. Both Violette and Dash are instrumental in saving the day and using their powers along with the Parr friend Frozone (Samuel L Jackson). I love when Helen tells the kids “Your identity is your most valuable possession”. That’s a main message of the film.

I love the sense of family and camaraderie with the Parrs and it is so fun to see each family member blossom in their own unique ways. Most Disney films are about people meeting and falling in love. Incredibles is one of the only one’s I can think of about how important marriage is. It shows a couple fighting, getting along, and working together. Violette at one point says ” Mom and Dad’s lives could be in jeopardy or worse- their marriage”. I love that!

Like in Finding Nemo there is some terrific dialogue in between the action- along with some real moments of heart. I love when Bob rants about graduation. It reminds me of when President Obama wanted to outlaw 8th grade graduation- the one item we probably agree on most!

Helen: I can’t believe you don’t want to go to your own son’s graduation!

Bob: It’s not a graduation. He is moving from the fourth grade to the fifth grade.

Helen: It’s a ceremony!

Bob: It’s psychotic! People keep coming up with new ways to celebrate mediocrity, but if someone is genuinely exceptional…

Ha! That cracks me up every time!

There’s a lot of witty dialogue like that and that keeps it from feeling too predictable or stale. Edna especially gets a lot of the great laughs.

Syndrome might be a little scary for small children (I’m so bad at gauging that). Some of the work and marriage drama might be a bit over their heads but it is surrounded by the kids who I think children will really relate too. They will enjoy the action and the story is simple enough for them to understand.

The Incredibles is a movie you can watch with your entire family because it is about a family. They are dysfunctional at times and quarrel but so does every family. In the end they all want what is best for each other . They all want their family to be safe and happy. the movie is the journey that gets them a little closer to that goal.

I love it. And like I said if you piece it apart it is one of the best movies about work I’ve seen.

Overall Grade- A+

So Incredibles 2 is the next project for Brad Bird. Are we excited? I am!

Over the Garden Wall Series Review

June 7, 2015October 12, 2015 | Rachel's Reviews

I know I am super late in the world of animation bloggers with this post but I finally got around to seeing the Cartoon Network series Over the Garden Wall from last year and let me just say the hype is deserved. Wow!

Created by Patrick McHale from a short he did called The Tome of the Unknown, Over the Garden Wall is a miniseries about two step-brothers who get lost in a mysterious forest world. The only way I can think to describe it is a mixture of Wizard of Oz and Alice in Wonderland. It has the randomness of Alice and the journey of Wizard.

For people that bemoan the state of 2D hand drawn animation this is stunning. It looks so beautiful particularly how it uses light to create layers of the forest and to show mood. I was blown away by the animation! It’s unique and shows a lot of different styles while still keeping a consistent feel. It is carefully done animation with little details like the lighting on Greg’s teapot hat always reflecting what’s going on or the colors and texture on Beatrice’s wings. It’s lush, varied, and it reminded me in animation quality of Spirited Away- no small compliment!

Each episode is actually 2 10 minute shorts or chapters in the story of getting the boys Wirt (Elijah Wood) and young Greg (Collin Dean) home. They are such well written complex characters especially Wirt. He worries about life and doesn’t like to take risks. He’s resentful of Greg and I think a little bit envious. He wishes his family wasn’t a blended family and that Greg didn’t even exist. He wants to go back home but he is not unempowered or weak.

Greg is sweet and carefree. He loves nature and carries around a frog that he often gives historical names too. He is unafraid of monsters and when given the chance to lead he takes it very seriously. A character like Greg could be grating and irritating but he’s not. He also gives most of the humor of the show (and it can be very funny).

They have a third member of their group a blue jay named Beatrice (Melanie Lynskey) who joins the boys to try and find Adelaide a mysterious woman who will break the curse on her family and help the boys get home. Beatrice gets irritated easily and is free with her opinion about everything. It’s a funny juxtaposition given she’s a sweet looking bluebird without being too crass or vulgar. Her character arc has much of the heart of the series.

There is a beast in the forest and a woodsman (Christopher Lloyd) as well as other magical creatures. It can be quite scary and probably isn’t for very small children. But the segments are short so you are never left dwelling on the scary for long.

In a world where hardly anything feels new Over the Garden Wall is such a refreshing surprise. Every episode feels like something I’ve never seen before. It’s so creative and different and constantly surprised me. It might be a little too random for some people but I thought that’s what made it brilliant. You never knew what to expect. It could be a bonfire with vegetable people or frogs on a cruise or a trip into the clouds. Whatever it is I loved it!

I love how the boys interact with each other. It felt like 2 brothers, especially two step brothers. I like that they never had to ‘learn’ anything and yet they did. It’s not one of those animated shows where there is a moral at the end of every episode. Sometimes there isn’t even a story. It’s just the boys interacting with cool stuff (again kind of like Alice in Wonderland in that regard).

The music is also wonderful and eclectic. Some songs are very fun like Potatoes and Molasses, others are spooky, others are very tender and heartbreaking.

I’m not sure who wrote the score but it is perfect. It manages to feel consistent with all the eclectic stories being told.

Normally I hate when adults play children on animated shows (Simpsons being the exception) but here Elijah Wood is terrific as Wirt. He captures a skeptical but earnest teen so well. All the vocals are great including John Cleese, Tim Curry, Chris Isaak, Shirley Jones and more. You can tell this was a real labor of love for all involved.

People are always bemoaning the lack of originality in today’s television and movies. Indeed it feels like every day we get a new sequel, prequel, remake or adaptation. This makes Over the Garden Wall even more of a treasure. It’s so original in every way. I think you could watch it a thousand times and get something new each time. Each episode is so rich with details and artistry it is definitely one I want to get on blu-ray.

Especially as lovers of animation we need to support such creative visionaries and let the Cartoon Network know such efforts are appreciated. I would love to see a series 2 of Over the Garden Wall but I hope at least the network will continue producing such bold entertainment.

Any of you see Over the Garden Wall? What did you think? It’s the kind of series you want to discuss so feel free in the comments.

This shows how deep the series is.

Love and Mercy Review

June 6, 2015June 7, 2015 | Rachel's Reviews

Sometimes I see a movie that leaves me completely at a loss. I walk away not knowing if I like it or not. Love and Mercy was that kind of film. On one hand it is brilliant but on the other it is muddled and confused and a little frustrating. At the very least they could have done a classic bland biopic and tried to do something different. I respect that.

Love and Mercy is the story of Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys. What makes it unique is it flips between two versions of Brian- Paul Dano is a young version and John Cusack is an older 80s version.

The scenes with Dano battling voices in his head to make an unconventional sound are brilliant. I love the Beach Boys and their greatest hits album is one of the first I remember listening too. My Dad had a tape and we danced to all the songs. The entire creation of Pet Sounds is in the movie and it is amazing to see them bring in animals and strange instruments and build layers of sound. It felt like it might be close to the way it actually happened.

A side of me wishes we could have stayed with young Wilson but then it would have been more of a standard biopic, so I’m torn. But we do miss a big gap of Wilson’s life. We hear that he stayed in bed for 3 years after a breakdown but we don’t see the actual complete meltdown. This left some to the imagination but I could have seen more.

Meanwhile in the 80’s John Cusack is dating Elizabeth Banks who works at a car dealership. All the while he is closely monitored by his “doctor” played very creepily by Paul Giamatti.

I didn’t think Banks and Cusack had great chemistry but the tension between Giamatti and Banks builds in a believable way. It feels like such a different movie than the music part with Dano. One is like a standard biopic of troubled musician and the other is a creepy thriller. It’s a very weird combination. There are moments when you believe Dano and Cusack are playing the same person and you do get hints of both lives in each other’s performances (they never met in shooting which is kind of amazing) but there are other times when it feels like such different movies it doesn’t really gel.

But there are scenes that work so well in both stories. Like when Dano’s Wilson puts the pieces together for Good Vibrations. It is so exciting to see and hear all the parts of the song build to this great track we all know and love. It made you want to cheer to see such a troubled person make something so great. We also don’t get the expected drug montages like in a standard biopic. Dano’s Wilson definitely is an addict but he does it in unusually staged shots, a lot involving water that reminded me a bit of The Graduate.

Another great scene is when Giamatti flips out at Banks at her car dealership. I was scared for her. It is incredibly convincing. Like I said the two of them are very good together.

There were a lot of moments in Love and Mercy that worked and it did surprise me. It is strange and different and not something you can put your finger on after one watch and there’s something to be said for that.

One thing I hate is we got those annoying paragraphs at the end of the movie. To me that is the directors way of telling us he couldn’t finish the story. It’s a movie cop out and especially in this case because there is a lot of story of both plots we missed out on. For instance, we don’t get to see the downfall of Dano or the revenge of Cusack. Reading about it is so lame!! I’d rather have it just be left to wonder what happened than get the paragraphs.

But it’s at least an ambitious movie. It could have played it safe but it tries things and when it works I loved it. When it doesn’t I was still intrigued. I think it may take seeing it a few times for me to come up with a solid conclusion on my thoughts. I guess that says something pretty good about the movie!

Any of you see it? What did you think? A side of me just wishes it was 2 movies instead of 2 in 1. It kind of reminds me of that Bob Dylan movie I’m Not There with all the different actors playing him.

I really don’t know what grade to give it but I will go with a B-

As far as content there is some language, sexuality mostly off screen, some drug abuse sequences and one very creepy dude. Mental illness is dealt with but in an interesting visceral way that shouldn’t offend anyone. Content Grade- B

Disneynature 5: Wings of Life

June 6, 2015 | Rachel's Reviews

Now we get our next entry in the Disneynature Canon and it is all about those bugs you swat away or are afraid might sting you. It is called Wings of Life and it is mostly focused on butterflies and bees.

I must admit to being a little disappointed in this film. I went into it with high hopes because I find the subject of bees and the bee crisis to be very interesting. I don’t know if this just is too old (released in 2011 so not that long ago…) or they didn’t think kids would like that kind of discussion but it is sorely missed.

The movie is narrated by Merly Streep and she is good but it is told from the point of view of the flowers which is a little ridiculous and there just isn’t that much personality in a flower or a bee. Animals from the ocean, monkeys, or flamingos have way more expression in their faces and you can get more of a narrative.

In Wings of Life you get a lot of time lapse photography showing the flowers opening up and its ok but I grew a little tired of it after a while. The cinematography is beautiful and I did learn a little bit but it could have been a lot more informative. Maybe part is the problem is it is only insects where the other documentaries I’ve seen on the bee crisis has had experts talking about the problem. That would have been more interesting to me. It’s also too long. Insects don’t have a 77 minute draw, at least for me. An insects life is pretty simple- pollinate, mate, protect and die. It’s not that compelling for 77 minutes. Plus, insects up close and personal are kind of gross looking. Not all cute and adorable like a monkey or a baby flamingo.

The two best segments are about the bats in the dessert which get nectar from cactus blossoms and the Monarch butterflies and their migration. I wish the whole movie had been about the journey of the butterflies. That might have been interesting.

As it is, it is kind of slow and I lost interest. It’s the first of these Disneynature that felt like an old school dry nature documentary. No personality. No pizazz. No real narrative It has some pretty images but I would just look at those online and watch Flamingos instead. That one is still the best of the best.

Plus, I thought the narration from the point of view of the flowers was a little strange and I couldn’t get into it.

Wings of Life tries to send a message about gardening and planting flowers but it is a little too late. I think kids will have already disengage by then and it isn’t any new information for adults so they will be bored.

Overall Grade- C-