Not half bad for starting in August. Thanks for all the support! It’s been a blast!
The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2014 annual report for this blog.
Here’s an excerpt:
The concert hall at the Sydney Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed about 19,000 times in 2014. If it were a concert at Sydney Opera House, it would take about 7 sold-out performances for that many people to see it.
Click here to see the complete report.
Hi guys! Just a quick post this morning and it is my 200th post! Can you believe it! Thanks for making this such a fun part of my life. My other personal blog http://smilingldsgirl.com is just about to get 1000 posts (and has 500 followers!) but I’ve had that for 7 years. This has only been since August Crazy!
Just thought I would give a little response to the Oscar noms, not that these awards matter that much. Still, it is nice to see quality praised.
I’m still working on seeing the nominated films and of the Best Picture noms I’ve seen Boyhood, Grand Budapest Hotel and Selma and they all deserve their noms. Probably the surprise was only 8 noms this year when they can have 10 (the best picture nomination process is so convoluted and ridiculous).
I’m going to see Whiplash on Saturday so excited for that and should get to everything else in the next couple of months. What’d you think of list?
Best Picture:
American Sniper
Birdman
Boyhood
The Grand Budapest Hotel
The Imitation Game
Selma
The Theory of Everything
Whiplash
The biggest surprise is no nomination for Lego Movie. This is probably the result of it being an early 2014 release and it being a comedy. The academy tends to praise dramas at the expense of comedies which I think are in many ways harder to pull off especially for kids. It was also a definite tip of the hat to hand drawn with Tale of Princess Kaguya and Song of the Sea both getting nominated.
The fact is it was an incredibly competitive year in animation. I know a bunch of you disagree with me but I still think this is the strongest year in animation since the 90’s. Just my opinion but for a movie as inventive, creative and funny to be off the list as the Lego Movie says something about the strength of the year.
While I haven’t seen Song of the Sea it looks amazing, so I can’t argue with the 5 on the list. They were all great. Of the one’s I saw I gave them all A’s.
Best Animated Feature: (click film for link to my review)
Big Hero 6
The Boxtrolls
How To Train Your Dragon 2
Song of the Sea
The Tale of Princess Kaguya
Other surprises- no nom for Life Itself which I thought given Ebert’s popularity would be a shoe-in but it is kind of appropriate as the documentary branch consistently let Ebert down (example- Hoop Dreams not being nominated in 1994).
No nom for David Oyelowo for Selma is a big surprise because it is a great performance and typically the academy loves actors who portray famous people well. Also it would have been one non-white nominee (amazing how non-diverse Hollywood can be?). All the 20 nominees for acting are white.
Surprised but not surprised with a Meryl Streep nom for Into the Woods. She is great and it was a fun performance, but at this point her getting nominated has become such a bore. I almost wish she’d just take herself out of contention. I would be stunned if Patricia Arquette doesn’t win in that category.
Robert Duvall is kind of the same way with his nom for The Judge which I haven’t seen but didn’t hear great things. I am also a little surprised Ethan Hawke got nominated but happy.
No nom for Gone Girl (or its director David Lynch) which is a surprise although I haven’t seen that yet either.
Tom Hardy deserved to be nominated for Locke. I mean who else can say they kept audiences transfixed talking on a car phone for 84 minutes? Oh well. Not enough room on the list. I’m surprised no love for Nightcrawler which I probably won’t see because of the violence but heard is pretty great.
While not a surprise, disappointing to only have 1 nom for Dawn of the Planet of the Apes for visual effects. Andy Serkis deserves to be recognized for the amazing ACTING he does. Apes really affected me and made me think about life and conflict. It was a fun blockbuster but with something to say.
My prediction is it will be a big night for Boyhood. It certainly was the movie that impacted me the most in 2014. I think it will win picture, director, and supporting actress.
I also think Big Hero 6 will win for best animated movie. It’s a battle between it and How to Train Your Dragon 2. Both deserving.
What did you guys think? What surprised you?
To 200 more posts!
I haven’t done a straight Disney post for a while and I thought it might be fun to go through the decades of Disney and pick one movie I think is overrated, and one underrated. The overrated movies are not bad movies (except for 1). I like all Disney movies to one level or another and there are only 4 that I have no desire to ever see again. (Any guesses?)
1937-1942 Early Era
Overrated- Pinocchio
I don’t think any from this era are overrated. They are all great. That said, I like Pinocchio. It is brilliant, a masterpiece, but it is so dark and scary that it is not one I want to rewatch much. I would give it an A where most people give it an A+ so only a small difference (I had a B in my original review but I’ve thought on it and would give an A now). It’s a morality tale and sometimes that can be a little heavy handed and the Pleasure Island sequence is especially chilling particularly the kids turning into donkeys for the salt mines (holy crap that’s scary!). However, I LOVE the music, animation, and heart! I appreciate a lot more now as an adult than I did as a child but unlike Hunchback which goes too far IMO this is still watchable scary for kids. Just not a favorite of mine even though I recognize its many great qualities.
Underrated- Dumbo
Dumbo I think unfairly has a reputation as being racist and so people stay away. The crows are a caricature but I never found them demeaning or insulting. Perhaps I am not culturally sensitive to that group but they are happy and cheerful, nothing childish or patronizing. Even if you fast forward the crows (a small scene) the rest of the movie has such heart and teaches about accepting others with differences- just the message some fear the crows are against.
I love the relationship between Timothy Mouse and Dumbo and Mrs Jumbo and her son. The artistry is also simple but beautiful.
1942-1949 Package Era
Overrated- Fun and Fancy Free
None of the package movies are really rated very highly but I got a lot of pushback on my Fun and Fancy Free review because people have nostalgia for Mickey and the Beanstalk. I wonder how many have really seen it recently? It is pleasant and Crazy Donald is cool but it is also predictable and kind of slow. But it is harmless enough. What I really didn’t care for was Bongo- the story of a circus bear who learns how to slap people to show them how much they love them. What a great message for kids!
I am also not a big fan of the interruptions from Charlie McCarthy and Edgar Bergen at a little girls birthday party. I know they are legends but it didn’t make me laugh and felt a little awkward.
Underrated- Melody Time
I find Melody Time to be one of the more palatable of the package films because although it has 7 shorts it focuses mainly on 2 longer segments- Johnny Appleseed and Pecos Bill. Appleseed I love but may be less agreeable to non-Christian viewers. It looks like it was picked up off a Grandma Moses painting and the story is sweet and music lovely. Pecos Bill is also beautiful to look at and a very funny Western tall tale.
1950-1959 Post War Era
Overrated- Peter Pan
I like Peter Pan but unlike Dumbo I think people have a right to complain about the Redman song. It is pretty bad and long. Plus, everyone is so mean to Wendy and she doesn’t really do anything worthy of the ill treatment. It also resorts to slapstick a lot. Most of it I think is funny but it gets a little old after a while. Still, the artistry is lovely and music great. It’s a solid, entertaining movie, just not a favorite of mine.
Underrated- Alice in Wonderland
Alice in Wonderland isn’t for every taste so I think that is why it gets a bad rap. If you can just take off your normal linear storytelling hat and appreciate something different you will be dazzled. It is supposed to be nonsense, not have a plot. The movie is Alice being introduced to a variety of unusual creatures and I think it is brilliant. The artistry is so much fun with the great Mary Blair’s visual style and the music is wonderful too. Even after seeing it many times I find myself curious for what Alice will find next on her journey. It’s great!
1960-1979 Sketch Era
Overrated- Sword in the Stone
This is another film I think a lot of people have a fondness for out of nostalgia more than it actually being a good movie. I was honestly being generous when I gave it a C-. I hated the way it looks. Everything looks like it has been painted over with blue and gray and feels dirty. But most importantly none of the lessons Arthur goes through teach him anything about being a King or make him qualified to take the sword out of the stone. Let’s see- he learns to be saved as a fish by Archimedes, make a squirrel cry as a squirrel and have Merlin battle Madam Mim as a bird. How does any of that relate to being a King? The songs are fun I will grant it that.
Underrated- Robin Hood
The movie even Disney is embarrassed by because of the recycled animation. I’ve thought about it a lot and decided I don’t care about that. It’s just a technique like CG, hand drawn, stop motion, and if the story is good than the technique doesn’t matter to me. Not that Robin Hood is a perfect film. I think it is one act too long and gets a little too melancholy in the 3rd act. But I love the dry English wit and pithy dialogue. It’s funny with a great villain and solid music.
1980-1988 Pre-Renaissance
Overrated- Fox and the Hound
Fox and the Hound is a fine movie but I’ve seen it pretty high on some lists and it is far too corny for me to take seriously. I mean there is an extended poem with violins playing in the background. If that’s not corny I don’t know what is? And the characters are kind of one note although the message about friendships changing is a good one. I hate the female characters who are just man (or dog/fox) candy. I am not a fan of the dopey music and the bear scene while striking feels like it belongs in a different movie.
Underrated- Great Mouse Detective
Those of us who are in the animation fandom may think I’m nuts for saying Great Mouse Detective is underrated but I think if you asked the world at large many are unaware of The Great Mouse Detective. It’s not a perfect movie and is pretty scary for little tikes but the energy of Basil and Dawson and the great performance by Vincent Price as Ratigan make it thoroughly entertaining. The scheme is over-the-top like a Bond villain and the animation is lush including the terrific use of computer animation in the clocktower segment. The only part I dislike is the stripper song at the bar which I fast forward.
1989-1999 Renaissance
Overrated- Hunchback of Notre Dame
Hunchback of Notre Dame is kind of the opposite of Great Mouse Detective. The hardcore Disney fandom loves it, where most normal moviegoers I know greatly dislike it. We’ve hashed this out a million times on this blog but my main issues are the tonal shifts it takes between obvious appeals to children to adult-appropriate cruelty and messaging. The movie is visually striking but I found myself either disliking or feeling ambivalent towards every character. The change of Frollo to a judge from the Archbishop actually makes the church look worse by being inattentive and enabling a madman. The music is wonderful and it is some of Disney’s best animation but I just can’t get over that tonal see-saw and the cruel imagery for a film marketed and made for children. They should have just gone all adult and I would have gone for it.
Underrated- Rescuers Down Under
This movie hits a couple happy buttons for me. I love action adventure movies with treasure hunts and clues. To me RDU tapped into that formula and was so much fun. I also love scenes in movies where characters fly and this has stunning flying sequences with Marahute. I also had extremely low expectations because I hate the first one. RDU tempers the meanness of the first by only having McCleach in the movie for about 12 minutes and Cody is rarely alone. There is way more hope throughout and John Candy is hilarious as Wilbur the albatross who is operated on by crazy mice doctors (still one of the funniest scenes in all of Disney!).
2000-2009 Post Renaissance
Overrated- Brother Bear
Finding an overrated movie in this period is hard and Brother Bear has a bad rotten tomatoes score and is at the bottom section of most people’s list so how can it apply? Well, I guess this is degrees. I thought it was total junk. I disagreed with literally every decision they made. Most people give it a ‘stupid but harmless’ pass but I hated everything about it- the voice acting, predictable story, terrible character designs, awful background songs, strange singer choices, unlikable characters, annoying side characters, humor that doesn’t work (most jokes aren’t even jokes, no punchlines given…), ending is unbelievable and it had potential which made their terrible choices even more maddening. I would way rather watch Brave than this and I am not a big Brave fan but in the world of Disney turning into bears movies this is by far the worst. It was nominated for an Oscar I remind you!
Underrated- Meet the Robinsons
Meet the Robinsons is not a perfect movie by a long shot but I think many were so upset by Chicken Little they didn’t give this a fair shot. It’s a lot of fun and very clever. It is too cluttered but it is also kind of a puzzle I had fun putting together. The Bowler Hat villain is creepily drawn and you will never guess his surprise! The characters are engaging and fun and the story has a lot of energy, zipping around all over the place. And I almost always like a time travel story so this just worked even with its flaws. Give it another shot and I bet you will find some things to like.
2010-Present Revitalization Era
Overrated- Wreck It Ralph
Sorry guys. I like Wreck-it Ralph but it is an average Disney for me not a top tier film. I love the setup. I love Ralph but I do not like Vanellope or Sarah Silverman’s vocal performance. The villain is very clever but they spend way too much time in Sugar Rush and I’ve seen lots of worlds that look like Sugar Rush. After a while it kind of looked like one of the new Care Bears movie backdrops. I love the music, and what they were going for but it loses me. It should have been more like The Lego Movie or Monsters Inc in the door scene and skipped between lots of the games. That would have been much more entertaining to me. Again, not terrible. I like it. I own it. I just don’t think it is the masterpiece others think. Plus, the other movies in the era are in my top 10 except for Winnie the Pooh which I love and Princess and the Frog which I feel is perfectly rated.
Underrated- Winnie the Pooh
I don’t know if I think any of the films from this era is underrated but like Great Mouse Detective I think 2011’s Winnie the Pooh has been largely forgotten by the general public despite getting good reviews and praise of many hard-core fans. This is a movie that takes its target demographic of little children under 3 seriously and is gentle and sweet and I loved it. Aside from a few of the voice actors and Christopher’s eyes it is lovely story of the gang trying to find Eeyore’s tail and prepare for the coming of the Backson. I love the music and the animation is wonderful. I love that this movie was made for little children with no attempts to wink at adults and even the short running time is perfect for the attention span of toddlers.
And please save your conspiracy theories. This was not a carefully constructed film to justify the closing of the 2D department. That is so asinine. If Disney can make money on 2D guess what they want to make money. That’s what a business wants to do…It’s not as good as the original but a worthy sequel in spirit and feel- an lovely homage you might say.
So there you have it. I’m sure you will have lots to say. Remember I like all of these movies except Brother Bear. I love Disney movies! Share with me what your over/under would be for the eras I mentioned? Always be respectful and we can have a spirited debate. Thanks!
Tonight I had the chance to see the new movie Selma about a moment in the Civil Rights Movement (1965 to be precise) when Martin Luther King led a protest in the town of Selma over the discriminatory practices used to keep black citizens from voting.
I’m almost ashamed to admit it but I will- before this movie I didn’t know that much about the Selma riots. I knew about the march on Montgomery, bus boycotts, march to Washington, Medgar Evars, and the Greensboro Sit-ins. I know about a lot but for some reason this particular event had escaped my education.
Not that you can ever take all of your education on anything from the storytelling of a movie, but I am grateful to this film for introducing me to the subject and doing so in a very moving, motivating way. I feel inspired to learn more.
Trailer:
Selma is an extremely strong movie I think everyone should see (even you non-Americans). We all should know about these injustices. We should know because they persist in today and unfortunately always will. The human brain has a hateful side to it that always wants to prop one group over another and feel superior for a variety of reasons. This then provides a rationale for all manner of hate because it is not a person we are hating but a ……….(fill in the blank). My own ancestors had an extermination order written against them and were forcibly evicted from this country. We all have those stories in our heritage and need to know about them.
But that does not mean that Selma is preachy. It is a lot like Stephen Spielberg’s Lincoln but I think more effective in some ways. Just as in Lincoln we learn about the passing of the 13th Amendment, Selma focuses on the months leading up to the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
Martin Luther King is played very well by David Oyelowo who even sounds like King and captures both the loud and soft moments very well. This is not a perfect version of King. It shows him as a man who is unfaithful to his marriage and perhaps an idealist to a fault. I was glad he is not shown as a paragon of virtue like a Lifetime Movie might have.
God uses very imperfect vessels to further his work and someone like Dr. King was used to do great things. Imagine what we imperfect souls could do?
The cast is huge and features many famous names like Common, Cuba Gooding Jr, Niecy Nash, and of course Oprah Winfrey in a small but moving role (you forget sometimes she can really act).
If I was going to nitpick the casting of 2 Brits as LBJ (Tom Wilkinson who’s accent roams) and George Wallace (Tim Roth) was odd. They are both fine in their scenes but the accents could have been better.
Liberals might be ticked off at this movie because their patron saint LBJ is painted as an adversary of King. Someone who had to be talked into a corner in order to bring the bill to Congress. I liked how it shows people how complicated governing is. Something which seems so cut and dry to us may be littered with land mines for the folks in Washington. Doesn’t mean you don’t act but it is harder often than we realize.
Another aspect of the movie I liked was it is not a ‘white people are evil’ message. In fact, thousands of white clergy came at the call of King to join in the march across the Selma bridge. There were nuns, rabbi’s and many of other faiths, which was something I didn’t know about.
If I had to nitpick there are quite a few stops and starts. I kept thinking the big moment was coming and then there would be another but it didn’t bother me much. The characters were interesting enough and I was engaged throughout.
The music by Jason Moran is also excellent. One thing that annoyed me in Lincoln was the John Williams score telling you what to think every 5 seconds. This was more subtle while still being dramatic when it needed to be.
I had no idea Dr King was so young when he died- only 39! It’s shocking really. One of the most fascinating men who have ever lived (I mean that), Malcolm X, also makes an appearance and if you have read his Autobiography (which you absolutely should) you totally get what he is trying to say.
Again if I was going to nitpick the filming could have been better. There were lots of extreme closeups when a 2 shot or crowd would have been more interesting.
But it really is a very satisfying picture. I left learning a lot, crying a little, inspired much and wanting to learn more. Can’t ask much more from a film than that. The performances are excellent even if a few of the accents could be improved. Especially Oyelowo deserves all the praise he is getting. It is quite the accomplishment.
So go see Selma. Take your families and friends. Go see it and talk about what it means and what we can learn from it. As far as content goes it is pretty tame. There are 2 f words and a few other sprinkled profanity but it’s nothing to worry about. The violence against the protestors can be tough to watch with innocent people getting gassed, struck at by police and beaten until a few are killed by redneck thugs. But we need to know and have imprinted in our hearts these things. And if you think the white people are bad in this movie see Rosewood. That movie is brutal. This is enough to show us what happened and teach us something without scarring us for life (although there is a place for that as well. Some things should be taught to us so bluntly). This movie however is more subtle and totally appropriate for mature children and teens. I can see it being shown in schools in years to come and that’s a good thing.
What are some of your favorite movies based on real people or moments in history like Selma? I’d love to hear and if any of you see Selma put in the comments what you think. Thanks!
Content Grade- B+ Overall Grade A ( few little qualms but overall really liked it)
A few months ago I really geeked out over the Star Wars trailer. I still think it is one of the most solid teaser trailers I’ve ever seen. It did what it was supposed to do- it teased us and made the fans excited. Yesterday the Avengers 2: Age of Ultron trailer came out and I watched it with the same eagerness and my response was more mixed.
Avengers is my favorite super hero movie ever. I know, I know most of you would pick the Dark Knight but not me. What I liked about the first Avengers is that it was fun without being stupid. It reminded me of Spiderman 2 (from 2000s). Some humor mixed with great visuals and a terrific villain in Loki. I give the credit to director Joss Whedon who is so good at finding that balance- whether it be in his TV shows like Buffy that have a cheeky self-awareness to them or Cabin in the Woods that both embraced and laughed at horror movie tropes.
What worries me about the Avengers 2: Age of Ultron trailer is it has a Man of Steel feel about it and for me that is a very bad thing. The music is ominous, speeches are deep and profound, backdrops and settings look very CGI’ish. I hated Man of Steel. I thought it was ponderous, preachy, violent, ugly, muddled, and confusing. It had its director Zach Snyder written all over it. He loves making CG grim ponderous movies.
Especially for Superman shouldn’t it be a little bit fun? We don’t have to stoop to Superman 3 levels (or certainly Superman 4) but a smile every now and then? Is that too much to ask? There wasn’t even a convincing romance in Man of Steel. The product placement was also incredibly obnoxious in Man of Steel. Just all of it I hated. (I realize some of you love it and that is great! I’m glad when anyone enjoys a movie).
A lot of the things in the trailer feel Man of Steelish to me and that has me worried. But Joss Whedon hasn’t let me down yet, so if anyone can pull it off it is him. Fingers crossed!
What did you guys think of the Avengers 2: Age of Ultron trailer? Would love to hear your thoughts.
My friend over at animatedkid is doing a review of the Disney Toons canon. If you aren’t familiar this includes all the direct to video sequels and movies, as well as franchise films like the Tinkerbell or Planes.
And no I will not be doing a similar endeavor because I want to keep my sanity. Especially in the sequel phases it’s going to be rough going. Still there are a few hidden ‘not as bad’ movies like Cinderella 3 so I’m looking forward to reading the reviews. Definitely check them out!
4 reviews of current films it may take me a while to get to see by my friend over at All Eyes on Screen.
So I finally had the chance to watch the Academy Award winning film Rango tonight. I had never seen it because a bunch of my friends at the time were very offended by it, so I never bothered.
I wish I could ask them what it was that offended them because it is definitely a very strange movie but I wasn’t offended.
That said, I didn’t really care for it either. The artistic style I found off putting and there is a certain garishness to the story, dialogue I didn’t like.
It is a very strange movie and I appreciated some of the risks they took but it is not a pleasant film to watch. I don’t know if that makes sense but sometimes you look at a piece of art and you can see it is ambitious and groundbreaking and yet find it disgusting at the same time. That’s what Rango felt like to me.
It’s about a pet lizard named Rango who is abandoned in the desert. There are a lot of surrealist moments at the start with a armadillo that has been run over but is still alive who is delusional and then other animals he meets and then he is chased by a hawk in a long sequence. The story takes a long time to get going but eventually he makes it to an old west town called Dirt.
Everything in Dirt is ruled by water and there are a lot of bad guys- a Gila monster (Ray Winstone), a desert turtle (Ned Beatty), a rattlesnake (Bill Nighy), a mole (Harry Dean Stanton), a hawk that can’t speak, and a bunch of rats that I think were bad. Honestly I lost track after a while. There were so many characters and the story didn’t make much sense. Rango becomes Sheriff of Dirt and I guess that was explained but I missed it. But he fights outlaws and there are bar room brawls and standouts.
There is also a girl iguana called Beans who’s father owned land that the turtle tries to get her to give up throughout the movie. She is the only female character and an obvious love interest for Rango but she is treated in the movie like a man and so there is no chemistry or witty banter between the two. Honestly it seemed like Rango was in a different movie than the rest of the characters. It was weird.
There is a vault that is opened which has the town’s water and the bank manager is killed and the turtle controls the vault. But they end up with only 6 days of water left.
About an hour into the movie they start on a journey to find water and I started to enjoy it more. There was more of a traditional narrative as opposed to the randomness of the earlier part of the movie. It is also a movie set in modern times so why can’t they get the water? It is also not like Great Mouse Detective where humans are living in the town and animals. No, this is just a town for animals. But it is set in the old west but not really but why?
It was just a confusing movie and I didn’t think it was funny or aesthetically pleasing. Even the way Rango’s eyes moved I found kind of unsettling and distracting. It was like looking at someone with a lazy eye (I have a lazy eye so I know of what I speak) and they never look you straight in the face but their eyes are constantly moving. There is also 2 scenes where a hawk (long scenes) chases Rango in a bottle and a vending machine that do nothing for the story.
I’ve rarely been more befuddled by a film. I guess it is one that just doesn’t appeal to me. I can see why others who appreciate randomness and the type of art love it. And if you are super knowledgeable about westerns than you might like it. Not everything has to be made for my aesthetic but it would have been nice to have at least a story I could follow with characters that made sense. I think I am pretty open minded when it comes to artistic expression and creative films.
As it is, its too cluttered, confusing, and convoluted.
Also, who is this movie made for? It’s not adult enough to be like a South Park or ‘adults only’ animated movie. But I can’t imagine any kids following the plot and myriad of characters or getting any of the jokes. Part of the problem is kids haven’t seen the Western movies it constantly spoofs. There is even a Dirty Harry cameo from Clint Eastwood. Most young adults haven’t seen many westerns let alone kids. I wish I had seen more Westerns and it is on my list so I think a lot of the homages and spoofs were lost on me. I don’t know. I just don’t get who the movie is geared towards?
It kind of felt like they dumped all their ideas into a canon and then just put it all on screen without regards to a cohesive story or characters that made sense or we could keep track of.
Giving a grade is tough because it is thoughtfully made but it just didn’t work for me. The last 45 minutes it gets better but I didn’t care for it. Sorry!
Overall Grade- D+
I really enjoyed this review of Frozen!