40. Aladdin- I know for some people Aladdin would make their top 10 but I’ve never been as big a fan as most people even though I do like it (hey it made this list!). It’s a ton of fun with one of the most iconic performances in all of Disney. The Menken/Ashman/Rice songs are wonderful.39. Batman Mask of the Phantasm- vastly underrated superhero movie with terrific vocal performances. Actually my favorite batman movie. I think the animation is also underrated. Get it on blu-ray studio!
38. Persepolis- One of most unique animated films I’ve ever seen. About a girl growing up in the Iranian Revolution. It looks striking, with an extremely likable lead character and a story with a lot of layers of family, personal and political drama.37. Big Hero 6- I was really moved by the relationship of Hiro and Tadashi. A lovely film about grief and remembering those who have past on while also being a superhero movie with a diverse, funny group unlike any I’ve seen before. I love Baymax so much and SanFransokyo was so creative and beautiful.36. Snow White and 7 Dwarves- I realize this is a little out of sync with my Disney rankings but this where I felt it fit in this list. Snow White is not just great because it was first but it holds up remarkably well. It’s funny, sweet, scary and has great songs. I love how the Queen is the queen but it isn’t enough for her. She also has to be prettiest in the land.35. Iron Giant- A lovely animated story by Brad Bird about a boy in 1950s who finds a giant and has to keep it from the government. Love the animation, story, everything. 34. Mulan- Underrated Disney movie with a strong female heroine, good laughs, strong ensemble of characters, sweeping battle animation, great score and fun songs. Only weakness is lame boring villain. 33. Corpse Bride- a beautiful ghost story with haunting music and a visual style that I actually like even better than Nightmare Before Christmas. The story isn’t quite as layered or interesting and the characters not as good as Nightmare but I still love it. There is enough story of the unlikely match thrown together for me to love it. 32. Lion King- Another one I’m sure people will be upset having so low but I love Lion King. That’s why it beat out 18 other films. It’s epic, beautiful, heartfelt and has an amazing villain. Some of the pop elements, juvenile humor and way they handle Can You Feel Love Tonight I could do without. Still hugely satisfying engaging film about whether we take the easy way out or the tough one that we are destined for. It’s also some of Disney’s most glorious animation they ever did. 31. Dumbo- It depresses me that so many outside the animation community see Dumbo as a racist Disney movie. That or it is ‘too sad’. It has its perhaps questionable segments but at its core is a message about acceptance of people and their differences. The relationship between Timothy Q Mouse and Dumbo is sweet. The watercolor artwork is lovely capturing the bright colors of the circus. The elephants dream is weird and a delight. I love it! Here’s my video on this list:
I got to see the Minions movie tonight. I went into this movie actually pretty excited. I am not the biggest fan of the Despicable Me movies. I think they are just ok, but the thing I like about them most is the minions characters. They are really funny with their language and love of bananas. There is something adorable about them. They even like selfies on occasion…
And little kids love the minions. I’ve seen it with my 5 nieces. They crack up and get a huge smile on their faces whenever they see the minions. But it is always tricky when a sidekick gets their own movie (think Elektra…) especially sidekicks that don’t speak English. How was this going to work?
Then the first trailer came out and it looked really cute. It is actually the first 5 minutes or so of the movie in that first trailer and it is the best part of the movie IMO. We get the history of the minions starting with amoeba cells and then through all time periods looking for a master to serve. This takes us to 1968 and 3 of the minions decide to go out and look for their leader before they all perish from boredom. They are Bob, Kevin and Stuart which for some reason makes me laugh. It just seems like funny names for these minions.
They then travel great distances and there are some cute gags but nothing that wasn’t shown in a trailer and that made me laugh out loud. The best scene is probably when Stuart wants to eat Kevin and Bob because he thinks they are bananas but again that is in the trailer so you don’t need to pay the big bucks to see that. Eventually they make it to New York where we start to get material from the second trailer. This trailer had me nervous. It looked like a lot of adult ‘wink-wink’ humor which I really hate. Like do we really need to see Stuart in a thong and having a threesome joke? I certainly don’t.
But luckily there isn’t that much of those jokes so my fears were mostly ill founded. Besides, pretty much all the adult humor jokes are in the trailer including a scene where they are tortured which was strange and hung in a noose. Do we really need that in our kids comedy? These scenes were awkward instead of funny.
The minions eventually go to Villain-con which was a fun sequence and they meet Scarlet Overkill voiced by Sandra Bullock. Her character had potential but they didn’t do much with her. I think they needed a vocal performance with a little more sauce to it like someone Russian or with an exotic accent. Bullock ends up feeling flat as Scarlet but it isn’t really her fault because she doesn’t have much to do. Her boyfriend is voiced by John Hamm who is actually a little bit funnier than Scarlet.
The one thing I did like is Scarlet wants to be a princess and be treated like royalty. She already has the money so I thought that was kind of clever to have a female villain who still wants to be pretty and a princess. Usually the villain hates princesses. I also liked she wanted her hair cut like a drawing of her as a princess she did when she was a child. That made me laugh.
So she equips the trio of minions to steal the crown from Queen Elizabeth. The rest of the movie is then spent in England and at one point Bob becomes King of England which was funny.
I think small kids who already love the minions will enjoy this movie. It is definitely better than say a Home or Strange Magic. That said, I never really laughed like I did for Penguins of Madagascar last year which was very funny and had great vocal performances. It also makes me realize how clever Mr Peabody and Sherman was because that had a thin premise but the jokes were so good I laughed a lot. Both those movies are much better than Minions.
A friend of mine asked me if she should still see and I said yes. It’s fine but just know it is made for little kids without a ton of grown up appeal. But then it has those adult moments which are unfortunate. However, it does look nice and is bright and colorful and the beginning 20 minutes is a lot of fun. It’s when they get to England that things really fall apart.
In the end I left Minions thinking ‘that was cute but I didn’t laugh’, and I think many of you will feel the same way. I also might have laughed more if everything hadn’t been in the trailers. But like I said it’s cute, there are a couple jokes that work but there are sections where I got a little bit bored because I wasn’t laughing.
Kids will like it but probably forget about it rather quickly. If you have a $1 theater by you wait till then to take the kids. It’s worth a $1. $10 I don’t think so.
If you like 1960’s classic rock you will enjoy the soundtrack with songs from The Who, Beatles, Kinks and many other bands. They must have spent a fortune on all the songs so that is cool.
I will say the people in front of me were laughing hysterically so maybe I missed something? Or they were on something? Not sure…
Hey guys! My friend over at Drew’s Movie Reviews has nominated me for Liebster Award. Thanks! I figure it would be a fun way for you all to get to know me better. A reminder my regular blog has a lot of this information about me at smilingldsgirl.com. My regular blog does get into politics and religion a little bit so not for everyone but I try to have a variety.
So here are the rules to the Liebster Award.
Thank the blog who nominated you and link back to them.
Nominate up to 11 other bloggers to receive the coveted award.
Answer 11 questions from the blogger who nominated you.
Tell your readers 11 random facts about yourself.
Give the nominees 11 questions to answer on their blog when they post their nomination.
Can you wiggle your ears? No. I wish I could!
Do you watch any web series? If so, what’s your favorite one? I don’t watch any because they tend to be pretty R rated in content. I liked Dr Horrible’s Sing Along Blog and will watch Mindy Project now that it is moving over to Hulu. There are a lot of shows I watch online like Rick and Morty but are still aired on cable.
What is the first movie you remember watching in the theaters? Little Mermaid and Home Alone is the first comedy I remember.
Do you prefer 3D or 2D movies or are you indifferent? 2D because I have a lazy eye so 3D is tough for me.
Do/Did you play any sports? Which ones? I’m an open water swimmer.
What is your favorite card game? Phase 10
What is your favorite board game? I love games like Apples to Apples, Pictionairy but probably Cranium because it combines so many fun games into one
What is your favorite video game? Not a video game fan so I guess Tetris.
If you had a time machine and could go back in time without consequence of messing up the future, where and when would you visit and why? This is going to sound cheesy but it’s true I would go back and meet Jesus, hear the Sermon on the Mount.
Do you have a motto or mantra? I love the Nora Ephron quote “Above all, be the heroine of your life not the victim”
What is your favorite thing about blogging or being a blogger? My favorite part is the experience of writing whether it be a movie review or a more personal entry on my regular blog.
Thanks for those questions. Now I have to give 11 random facts about myself
1. I’ve been blogging since 2008
2. I hate driving. If I could have a chauffeur I would never miss it.
3. I love subscription boxes and review them on my youtube channel along with movies.
4. I got my dream job last year working in social media marketing.
7. My favorite books are North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell and The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. I have read both books at least 7 times
8. I met Jackie Chan and his autobiography is actually super good. He’s had an insane life growing up in an orphanage that performed Chinese opera.
9. I have an MBA from University of Phoenix and a BA from Brigham Young University.
10. I served a mission for my church in Indiana from 2003-2005 so pretty much any movie during those years I haven’t seen except for Incredibles, Return of the King, and HP 3.
11. I’ve had surgery on my eyes twice to correct a lazy eye and I can’t see those darn Magic Eye pictures and I hate them!
So that is my 11 random facts. I don’t know who to nominate but I’ll do:
1. If you had to pick music, movies, or books what would you pick?
2. Favorite animated film?
3. What movie do you think is actually better than the book?
4. What is the best dish you cook?
5. Favorite candy bar?
6. What’s worst date you’ve ever been on?
7. Mac or PC?
8. What is the movie that you relate too the most? That seems to be telling your story
9. Who would play you in a movie about your life?
10. What do you collect?
11. What’s the movie you went to see in the theater multiple times the most?
There you go! Feel free to give me your answers in the comments section or answer them even if not tagged. I wasn’t sure who had recently been tagged so I didn’t know who to pick. Have fun!
It is very rare a movie will take my breath away. Wall-e is such a movie. It is so bold, lovely, magical, sweet, and everything else. One of my all time favorites. I know some people think it is boring. I don’t understand those people. I really don’t. Wall-e manages to be at the same time a great sci-fi, romance, silent and animated movie and it does all of those genres proud.
It’s funny because I’ve heard people say that Wall-e is too grown up for kids but in my experience kids seem to be more receptive to it than many adults. I have yet to watch it with little kids that weren’t completely engaged. A couple of kids described what they liked about it
5-year-old Alex listed it among his favorites: “Wall-E floats in space and he meets a best friend. I love meeting best friends.” His twin, Max, agreed: “Wall-E can float! And he makes square stuff come out of his belly.”
Isn’t that interesting? It’s a mistake to believe kids need a complex plot to engage them. They need characters they like, doing things they like. I’ve seen small children watch movies of cows eating for an hour or a bulldozer clearing away land and be riveted.
So it appeals to kids. Now we must ask the question- does it appeal to me. The answer is YES! Like I said, it is bold and completely charming. Let’s talk about why I like it .
To begin with Wall-e has one of the strongest introductions of any movie. Immediately you are immersed in this world of trash and we see Wall-e going about his compacting ways.
Once Wall-e gets home we learn he is a romantic at heart. In fact, he loves the musical Hello Dolly, which honestly is much better in this movie than on its own. You can feel Wall-e is lonely and who wouldn’t be with only a cockroach for company for 700 years. These early sections are virtually dialogue free except for the Dolly songs and I think they are completely brilliant.
On one of his rounds of compacting Wall-e finds a plant inside a fridge and we can tell from his reaction he has never seen such a thing before in all his duties. Just about that time a visitor arrives. It is a girl robot that is more futuristic than Wall-e. Her name is Eve (or Wall-e says EVA).
At first Eve is kind of hostile to Wall-e. She operates completely by directive and not by the seemingly free choice that Wall-e does. She shoots at him and doesn’t want him to touch her. Even after he shows her his home she’s still very jumpy. She also takes the plant and that sends her into a green mode where she needs to get home and notify the spaceship of the plants.
But Wall-e persists and eventually the two have a moment. Again there is almost no dialogue during this whole time .
I’m using so many clips because you have to see the beautiful imagery. That will sell you on the movie much more than my explanation of what it is. Eve finally gets picked up with the plant and Wall-e follows her, hanging on to the spaceship. It creates one of the loveliest scenes ever in animation with Wall-e and Eve in space.
Once they arrive on the ship we do get a minor change in storytelling but to me it still maintains the tone and characters Eva and Wall-e that had been developed in the beginning of the movie. It turns out when the Earth was destroyed the people were sent to a spaceship with all that is needed for them to relax for what was supposed to be 5 years. Unfortunately 5 years turned into 700 and the people became very lethargic on the ship.
They don’t even realize they are being inactive because they are always looking at the screens in front of them on their chairs. When two characters John and Mary get knocked off their chairs they realize for the first time there is a pool in the ship. That’s how focused they are on the displays in front of them.
We also get introduced to the Captain voiced by Jeff Garlin. He is seemingly going through the motions but we see him grow in bits as he awakens to the stupor he’s been living in. He’s been reliant on an autopilot that looks a lot like Hal from 2001 Space Odyssey. This is an easy way of the directors to let us adults know the Autopilot is probably not going to be in the best interests of the people.
Autopilot, Captain and Eve
When Eve gives the plant to the Captain the Autopilot goes into a ‘recolonization process’ but it quickly becomes clear the Autopilot has been programmed at the start to not allow a return to Earth. This creates a battle between Eve, Wall-e, The Captain and a few other machines that they are able to recruit. I really like the team of robots they end up getting together.
At one point Wall-e is separated from Eve and they end up in space and we get an amazing space ballet of sorts. Again for me one of the most beautiful sequences of any animated film:
Some people might see this as a different tone than the beginning of the film but I don’t. We still get those sweet moments between Wall-e and Eve especially when Eve thinks Wall-e is gone several times. To me it is a building of tone and like any great story it starts subtle and builds to a climax. Plus, we get lots of little hints at the ship and leadership in the early scenes with the piles of trash and so to me it makes perfect sense to have both sections of the movie.
It also has moments of humor mixed in especially with Mary and John. I love when they stop the babies when the ship is tilted and she says ‘Get ready to have some kids!’. I guess if I was going to nitpick Fred Williard seems like a strange choice to play the CEO that sent the people to space. He is such a humorous actor I keep expecting him to do something funny but it really isn’t a comedic role at all.
As we get to our ending Autopilot has been shut down and the plant found. The ship is landed and there is a real sense of hope that the people, fat as they might be, are going to make a go of it and that they will start a real life instead of just being floating nothings.
And we get one of my favorite scenes in all of movies. Wall-e has a new memory chip and at first he doesn’t recognize Eve. It’s so beautiful!
Make sure to stay around for the credits because we get to see Wall-e and Eve through the history of art.
To me Wall-e has everything you could want in a movie. It’s stunningly beautiful. One of the most gorgeous animated films ever made- CG or 2D.
It teaches a very important message about taking care of our environment and not forgetting it because of our devices. Even more it reminds us to continually challenge ourselves and that just doing nothing as fun as might be is not a fulfilling life. We see that with the Captain when he starts to learn about Earth and he gets more excited with each new discovery. At the end he glows ‘we can grow a pizza garden!’. I know I am sometimes tempted by doing nothing and there is a place for that but it doesn’t really lead to lasting happiness and you may miss things right in front of you that could give you joy- like Mary and John missing the pool.
Aside from the message it covers so many genres and does them all well. It’s sci-fi, silent film, romance, space opera, and more. It blends it all seemlessly and with such heart that I find myself tearing up at the fate of these robots for goodness sake!
Director Andrew Stanton made a truly unique work of art that is certainly one of my favorites. The score by Thomas Newman uses the songs from Hello Dolly, La Vie en rose and Stardust along with unique themes. I agree with Hello Dolly composer Jerry Herman who called ”its incorporation into the story is genius”.
It only takes a moment after all to last your whole life through…
I’m watching Wall-e tonight but before I post about that masterpiece let’s talk about the great animated short Presto. If you haven’t seen it I think it is one of Pixar’s funniest shorts with some terrific character design.
As most of the shorts are this is pretty simple and it does repeat the same gag over again but each time it gets bigger and more humorous. It has the feel of an old Looney Tunes or Tom and Jerry short.
It’s about a magician named Presto and his hungry and rather grumpy rabbit named Alec Azam. The design of the rabbit feels particularly old school and I think it is very charming.
So basically the story is Presto has a real ‘magic trick’ where 2 hats are connected. Whatever you put in one comes out the other. This gif kind of shows how it works.
At the beginning the rabbit, Alec, is in a cage and he wants the carrots but in his rush Presto forgets and rushes to the perform. This makes Alec very upset.
Alec tries to tell Presto that he needs the carrot in order to participate in the magic show but he refuses making Alec angry and out for revenge.
Alec even worries he is going to lose the carrot for good! I love this expression!
That’s when instead of jumping in the hat like he is supposed to Alec uses the hat’s magic to send things out of the other hat to strike Presto. It is very funny with everything from a piano to eggs hitting the magician.
Meanwhile the crowd is thrilled with the crazy trick Presto is doing. I mean wouldn’t you be if you saw such things flying out of a hat! They give Presto and Alec a huge round of applause and even though he is weary Presto is thrilled with the response (as any performer would be). And of course in the end Alec gets his carrot.
Like I said, this short feels very old school like something you would see in Looney Tunes or Tom and Jerry and I like that. It escalates the madcap antics just enough to produce a laugh at each level (you couldn’t go from a mousetrap to electric shocks. It needs to be gradual). I also love the design of Alec, the rabbit. He is so cute and expressive with his eyes and face!
Presto is also bright, colorful, with great music that fits the old fashioned feel by Scot Blackwell Stafford. It was veteran Pixar man Doug Sweetland’s directorial debut and he used Tex Avery cartoons as his guide and you can feel that influence .
All in all it is one of my favorite comedic Pixar shorts.
So I have a fun series I am going to be doing over the next 5 few weeks. I have meticulously came up with my top 50 animated films. This isn’t the most impactful or the best made. It is just my favorite. For example, I know Pinocchio is a masterpiece and I do appreciate it. It’s just not a favorite of mine. So you will disagree with many of these but you can make your own list ;)!
Nevertheless, love to hear your feedback. It was very tough to do. I also am still working through anime so there may be some of your favorites I haven’t seen. Pretty much any movie on this 50 I would give an A too so I love them all even if it is 50th place.
I tried to keep this list in general order of my Disney Ranking but there may be a few things I’ve changed so don’t hold me to that.
50. Watership Down- dark, disturbing, violent and has a lot to say about political systems, social structures and how we rationalize away the dignity of others.
49. Ponyo- Gorgeous take on Little Mermaid by Studio Ghibli is weird, different and incredibly creative. A movie I could watch with the sound turned off and still love. It is also cute and Ghibli’s most child-friendly film outside of Totoro (which is coming later). You know me- I love anything to do with the ocean.
48. Lady and the Tramp– An underrated Disney gem. A sweet and simple story of the dogs from different sides of the track falling in love. I love the Norman Rockwell artistry and the jazz Peggy Lee soundtrack. And spaghetti is my favorite food so cant go wrong with that!
47. Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were Rabbit- Based on the characters from Nick Park’s animated shorts, we get a witty, sweet claymation story of crazy inventor Wallace and his wise dog Gromit as they try to rid the town of a mutant rabbit eating all their vegetables.
46. How to Train Your Dragon 2- A rare sequel that is better than the original. The flying sequences are gorgeous, real heart with the family drama and an epic quality that is tough to pull off in animated films. For kids that are too young for Lord of the Rings this is a great option.
45. Charlotte’s Web- EB White’s story of the plucky pig and his spider friend comes alive with songs from the Sherman Brothers and great voice casting including Debbie Reynolds and Paul Lynde.
44. Atlantis: The Lost Empire– I know I’m in the minority on this one but I love Atlantis. I love the diversity of the team and how hilarious they all are. I love the fight sequences and the steampunk look to everything. I think the culture and language they created is great.
43. Paranoman- An underrated movie that is legitimately scary yet sweet and full of good laughs. Made more for teenagers than little children (especially the humor) but not too grown up. It’s hard to believe it is stop motion it is so seamless. The message at the end is a unique take on bullying with the bullied girl becoming the bully and how they can talk her down.
42. Land Before Time- Beautifully animated tail of dinosaurs little one’s making it to the promised land of sorts. Sweet, sad with nice music.
41. Toy Story 2– I know woefully low for this movie but what can I say this is where it landed. Toy Story 2 is a great movie. With great humor, camaraderie and an interesting dilemma for Woody about how he wants to live his life.
I debated about posting a review of Terminator Genisys because it is going to be tough to review without some spoilers, so I will just say at the beginning- spoiler alert. I will do my best but you’ve been warned.
Terminator Genisys is our 5th entry in the Terminator franchise and while I wasn’t miserable watching, it is not a good movie. In fact, it is only better than 4 because it is muddled rather than boring.
The story is so silly. I was joking on twitter it should be called Terminator: Plothole City…There is so much in this movie that makes no sense. Some of the big reveals and the actions of characters come out of nowhere and especially when you consider the first movie which it plays into a lot it makes even less sense. Even down to the last line of the movie I was scratching my head wondering what the heck the director Alan Taylor was thinking?
Pretty much it has John Connor in 2029 trying to defeat Skynet after the Judgement Day and War of Machines. As part of the initiative he sends Kyle Reese back to 1984 to try and protect Sarah Connor from the T-800 of the original Terminator movie.
We actually see a very convincing CG version of 1984 Arnold but he is done away with very quickly. That is a problem this movie has in droves. It will introduce an interesting concept and then do away with it or forget about it for long stretches. There is also old Arnold who has raised Sarah and is her protector.
At the beginning we also get a T-1000 who is a pretty cool but a copy of what we had in Terminator 2 with the metal melting and all the same special effects.
But he is also done away with fairly quickly. Then we get moved up 2017 because an app is going to be launched and they need to stop it or Skynet will have control over everyone’s devices. Now if you knew that this was going to happen why wouldn’t you give yourself a year, a couple of months, something with a little bit of time? They have to take down Skynet for goodness sakes and turn off an app that has 1 billion downloads preordered and they give themselves a week I think?.
Kyle Rees is played by Jai Courtney and he is so bad. My theater was laughing at how he delivers the terrible dialogue. The man should not be in movies. Stop it Hollywood! He and Sarah Conner played by Emilia Clarke are supposed to have chemistry but they don’t. It is treated like a given they are going to get together and so there is no tension or witty banter or anything to enjoy.
The characters are all pretty stupid. They know the T-1000 and other Terminators can’t be stopped by bullets and yet what do they grab? More bullets and guns!. I kept thinking ‘try something else!’ In an underground lair there is acid in 1984 that will kill the terminators (I guess put there by Sarah) but why not take them immediately in that room and have a room like that built in your underground spot in 2017? Why bother with the guns and stacks of ammunition? Why not spend your time creating acid guns that will spray at the terminators?
Plus they have a terminator with them. Why not use the one you have to convince other people to support them? They are continually chased by police officers and other humans when they could have had tons of support. They could have had the US government get tons of acid or magnets and destroy Skynet or something that was slightly smart!
Magnets also destroy the Terminators. Never did I think an MRI would be a weapon in a movie! Go figure. Surely they could have come up with something powerful they could carry with magnets with all this time? Arnold says he was even working in Skynet when it was being constructed. You think he could have come up with something more helpful than crashing through walls and destroying security rooms?
Skynet is also so poorly designed. It looked like the smoke and catwalk factories we’ve seen since the 80s. I don’t know if they were trying to go retro but it did not look like 2017 in any way. And wouldn’t Genesis be developed in China in 2017? Would everything all be in one compound? The execs manufacturing and labs all there together? Plus wouldn’t they have the Genesys upload in some kind of server off-site if it was going to uploaded to a billion devices in one instant? That’s one heck of a compound! It doesn’t make any sense.
John Connor is played by Jason Clarke from Dawn of the Planet of the Apes and he is so bland. He is supposed to be dealing with his parents and yet none of them show any emotion or conflict. It is all shooting and explosions and a pretty cool bus crash. Furious 7 (also with a bus crash teetering on the edge of a precipice…) had way more heart than this film and this deals with the end of the world! It’s not really his fault though because he has very little dialogue and most of the time is shooting at our heroes and getting beat down by an MRI.
JK Simmons is also completely wasted as a cop who meets the trio in 1984 and spends 30 years trying to convince everyone alien robots do exist. He is the equivalent of the damsel in distress in a Superman movie. Someone that exists to be rescued and to cry out ‘No way! You’re real!”.
The redeeming factor in Terminator Genisys is Arnold Schwarzenegger who has a lot of fun with the part and I enjoyed. He does a few call backs to the original movies but most of it is him behaving in a way consistent with a father figure robot for Sarah Connor. His personality actually makes sense- something I can’t say for the rest of the characters.
There were so many missed opportunities in Terminator Genisys. They could have done really cool things with the time travel in both 1984 and 2017 but it is all so dopey. And like I said a lot of the times I felt like sections had been left out and I was thinking ‘what?’
The acting is terrible. The special effects are lame (with a few exceptions). Part of it felt like they were trying to look like Edge of Tomorrow- a movie that is actually smart and kind of involves time travel. Jai Courtney is no Tom Cruise. I can tell you that much.
Emilia Clarke is not nearly tough enough to be Sarah Connor and they do not tackle a single element of time travel messing things up. Like they meet the young Kyle Reese so wouldn’t Kyle recognize Sarah Connor when he see’s her and wouldn’t he know Arnold isn’t a bad guy because he saw both as a kid? He has a picture of her but only because of what John told him about Sarah. Well and if Kyle Reese is a kid in 2017 and his kid John Connor is an adult in 2029? Even if Kyle is a very young Dad that doesn’t work? And if it is an alternative time dimension having 2 Kyles and Johns should cause some kind of space-time continuum problem?
Anyway, like I said it doesn’t make any sense. It’s really stupid movie.
That said, you won’t be bored. Arnold is kind of charming. I’ve seen worse movies but especially when you’ve got such great movies in Terminator 1 and 2 it is very disappointing. Just stay home and watch those (or give Edge of Tomorrow a shot).
It’s also clearly trying to do what X-men Days of Future Past did but that had amazing fight scenes, great acting, cool special effects and focused on getting one character Mystique to make one different choice. Not destroying a billion app downloads and all of Skynet and having 2 characters fall in love and ‘mate’ etc.
But then again, I wasn’t miserable while watching it. I can see why you might have fun with it but I was frustrated by it. Arnold is a lot of fun so that’s always good…
It’s always tough to write about a movie you really love. That’s the struggle I’ve had with nearly all these Pixar movies. It’s why I was hesitant to do it in the first place. This Ratatouille review has been particularly difficult as it is such a gentle, lovely movie I have a hard time capturing why I love it. I’m sure I will have a similar struggle with Wall-e as they both are more than the sum of their parts.
Ratatouille is another movie I love about someone being uncomfortable in their own skin. Someone feeling like the world they were born into isn’t the right one for them and they don’t know what to do. So is the case with our lead character, Remy the rat. He’s a rat and yet all he wants to do is be a chef. Actually at the entrance his goals are much more modest- he just doesn’t want to eat garbage any more. Who can blame him for that? (And they do explain why he walks on 2 feet instead of 4 which was very clever design-wise for the character).
To start out Ratatouille we hear Remy voiced by the perfect Patton Oswalt explain his predicament. His father Django is head of the pack and doesn’t understand his son. His brother Emile doesn’t get it but let’s his weird brother be himself.
But it’s extremely foolish to assume Remy’s desires are all about food. He says in the opening he admires humans because they “don’t just survive. They discover. They create”. It reminds me of Ariel looking at the humans and saying “how can a world that makes such wonderful things be bad?”.
We learn early on that Remy loves a chef named Gusteau who runs a popular eatery in Paris and has a cookbook called “Anyone Can Cook”. Remy is such a fan of Gusteau he has learned how to read and lives a mystery life in an old ladies kitchen. It is clear Gusteau is not just a chef to Remy but a mentor. Someone who believes anyone and in Remy’s case anything can cook which is Remy’s dream.
Through various contrivances Remy gets separated from his family and makes it through the sewers of Paris (amazing water sequence through the rapids of the sewers). He begins talking to Gusteau who is a ‘figment of [his] imagination”. I love when Remy says ‘you are dead’. Gusteau says ‘that is no match for wishful thinking!”(such great witty writing in this movie!).
At first Remy wants to steal bread from an apartment but Gusteau tells him it is beneath him. So up to the roof he goes and we get the first of the amazing rooftop Paris sequences. Never did Paris look more beautiful than in Ratatouille- I’m talking animated or live action. I’ve never been there but every time I watch this movie I want to get on a plane and see the city of lights. It might seem easy to make Paris look beautiful but it’s not. In contrast, I talked about Ratatouille way back in my Aristocats review, a movie which makes Paris look dirty, ugly and flat. Look how gorgeous Paris looks with nearly every window being full of light.
Remy also see’s Gusteau’s restaurant which the imaginary Gusteau says he has led him too. There is a feeling just like Ariel looking at Eric that Remy has found where he belongs when he see’s the Gusteau sign.
But then we get in the restaurant and get introduced to a bunch of new characters.
There is Skinner who is running Gusteau’s restaurant and hopes to use his name on microwavable meals that have nothing to do with French food.
Then the kitchen staff including Colette the only female chef in the kitchen.
And there is a boy who is the son of Gusteau’s old flame named Linguini who is looking for a job. Linguini is terrible in the kitchen but Remy helps him and the two become unlikely friends.
And that kind of gets the story going. Remy and Linguini have to work together without anyone realizing it and all the while there is a critic named Anton Ego who thinks Gusteau’s philosophy on cooking is insulting. The design on Ego is completely brilliant with a great voice performance by Peter O’Toole.
There are so many great things about Ratatouille. But probably my favorite comes at the end. Anton Ego has just had a meal that reminds him of his childhood (in a brilliant montage).
He then finds out what gave him that splendid moment and we hear his review the next day.
I love this so much:
” In many ways, the work of a critic is easy. We risk very little, yet enjoy a position over those who offer up their work and their selves to our judgment. We thrive on negative criticism, which is fun to write and to read. But the bitter truth we critics must face, is that in the grand scheme of things, the average piece of junk is probably more meaningful than our criticism designating it so. But there are times when a critic truly risks something, and that is in the discovery and defense of the *new*. The world is often unkind to new talent, new creations. The new needs friends.”
Think if everyone on youtube that does nothing but tear things down understood what Ego is talking about? To be an advocate for ‘the new’ is such a privilege and is what makes all this writing and watching worthwhile. When you see what is special when sometimes nobody else does and you champion it- there’s nothing like that feeling! It gives hope for both the creator and critic that greatness is always around the corner.
There are so many great things about Ratatouille but one of my favorites is that Remy never really changes from the beginning of the story. He is not like Ariel in that regard. He is an optimist and for the few moments when he isn’t he has Gusteau cheering him on, making sure he doesn’t settle. By the end of the movie the world has accepted Ego’s advice and ’embraced the new’, even the rat world, and Remy is accepted for who he is and what his heart desires.
Ratatouille is also extremely funny with a dry wit script and enough slapstick to entertain the small kids (Plus, I think they will really like characters like Emil, Horst, Larousse and others). There are jokes for the adults too like when Remy is going through the Paris apartment and see’s a couple going from strangling each other to passionately kissing (so French!). There are a lot of funny bits like that and overall witty writing.
I guess some might find Linguini a little bland but I always liked him. There is the liar reveal trope but it’s not too heavy-handed so I was ok with that too. The movie is so strong I will forgive a few tropes and characters needed to move the story along.
Other than that I think it is just about perfect. It looks gorgeous. Has great vocal performances throughout and is about a character figuring out where they belong and finally being accepted there. I love it!
A definite A+ from me.
Also, great job by Brad Bird who came in late and reworked the whole movie (originally Gusteau was alive and Remy starts out in the kitchen I believe). He shows his masterwork at storytelling and creating characters we relate too with huge heart.
I’ve looked at the Hit Me with Your Best Shot project as kind of a book club for movies. Just like in a book club you get to see what other people think and gain from their perspective. You also sometimes love or just like the books assigned and sometimes you don’t like them at all.
Well, this weeks selection is I’m afraid the latter, a movie I don’t care for called Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon. I know many love it and it was nominated for many awards, but I don’t like it (which makes picking a favorite shot rather difficult). If I made a list of ‘top 10 overrated movies’ this would definitely make that list.
My main flaw with the movie?- I don’t like the flying!
The whole appeal of martial arts movies is that the fighter has the potential to kill his or her opponents with their body. They do not need any assistance or super powers to get the job done.
You watch some of the old Bruce Lee or Jackie Chan movies they completely dominate their opponent from start to finish. Maybe they had nunchucks or a pole but the power was always from their own body. I’m aware some of these kung-fu movies can be over the top in their execution of the stunts and it end up looking ridiculous but it is always meant to appear like one man fighting with just his body.
That’s where we get into problems with Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon. By making the characters mystical and capable of flight it takes away all the tension and excitement because the vulnerability is gone. They can fly away like Superman and walk on walls like Spiderman.Seems pretty invincible (and predictable) to me.
Most of the time the fights seem to end without any real victor because the loosing player can just fly away. This is way less satisfying than a bloodied up opponent after facing Bruce Lee in a fight. It makes the fight scenes feel very boring because it is so obviously choreographed and our heroes aren’t really going to get hurt. Again if you can fly away how bad can things really get in a fight?
The problem is these flying fight scenes are most of the movie, so my not liking them means I don’t really like the movie. I think it is boring and I don’t think the special effects have held up very well. They look kind of corny to me.
The main story is about 2 women Shu Lien (Michelle Yeoh) and Jen (Zhang Ziyi) as they try to protect a sword for Mu Bai (Chow Yun-fat). They have various romantic adventures along the way and lots of flying fights. That’s about it.
The Shot
Some of the cinematography is nice and the performers are all gifted (how I wish we could have just left the Peter Pan antics and let them fight!). But probably the part of the movie I like the best is that it has 2 strong female leads that are the main protagonists of the story. These women are as formidable as any men if not more so and for a martial arts movie that is very cool (some of the Jackie Chan movies are particularly misogynistic).
So for me the best shot of the movie is when Jen and Shu Lien are fighting at the beginning and when they stay on the ground the movements are almost too fast to get a good screenshot of. Nevertheless, this is the one I came up with. It is pretty amazing and certainly way more impressive than any flying.
39. Batman Mask of the Phantasm- vastly underrated superhero movie with terrific vocal performances. Actually my favorite batman movie. I think the animation is also underrated. Get it on blu-ray studio!
38. Persepolis- One of most unique animated films I’ve ever seen. About a girl growing up in the Iranian Revolution. It looks striking, with an extremely likable lead character and a story with a lot of layers of family, personal and political drama.
37. Big Hero 6- I was really moved by the relationship of Hiro and Tadashi. A lovely film about grief and remembering those who have past on while also being a superhero movie with a diverse, funny group unlike any I’ve seen before. I love Baymax so much and SanFransokyo was so creative and beautiful.
36. Snow White and 7 Dwarves- I realize this is a little out of sync with my Disney rankings but this where I felt it fit in this list. Snow White is not just great because it was first but it holds up remarkably well. It’s funny, sweet, scary and has great songs. I love how the Queen is the queen but it isn’t enough for her. She also has to be prettiest in the land.
35. Iron Giant- A lovely animated story by Brad Bird about a boy in 1950s who finds a giant and has to keep it from the government. Love the animation, story, everything. 
34. Mulan- Underrated Disney movie with a strong female heroine, good laughs, strong ensemble of characters, sweeping battle animation, great score and fun songs. Only weakness is lame boring villain. 
33. Corpse Bride- a beautiful ghost story with haunting music and a visual style that I actually like even better than Nightmare Before Christmas. The story isn’t quite as layered or interesting and the characters not as good as Nightmare but I still love it. There is enough story of the unlikely match thrown together for me to love it. 
32. Lion King- Another one I’m sure people will be upset having so low but I love Lion King. That’s why it beat out 18 other films. It’s epic, beautiful, heartfelt and has an amazing villain. Some of the pop elements, juvenile humor and way they handle Can You Feel Love Tonight I could do without. Still hugely satisfying engaging film about whether we take the easy way out or the tough one that we are destined for. It’s also some of Disney’s most glorious animation they ever did. 
31. Dumbo- It depresses me that so many outside the animation community see Dumbo as a racist Disney movie. That or it is ‘too sad’. It has its perhaps questionable segments but at its core is a message about acceptance of people and their differences. The relationship between Timothy Q Mouse and Dumbo is sweet. The watercolor artwork is lovely capturing the bright colors of the circus. The elephants dream is weird and a delight. I love it! 
Here’s my video on this list:
