So last year I got the movie pass which allowed me to see a movie every day in the theater. It’s a pretty awesome service and not including re-watches I saw 88 films in the theater in 2015. (Crazy I know!). Some of these are rereleases and some are 2014 releases. I tried to rank the films and it was impossible. They are all so different and have strengths and weaknesses.
But I will give you my grade for the film if that is helpful. It was a pretty good year when you consider out of 88 films only 9 D or F films.
2nd Best Exotic Marigold Hotel B
Age of Adeline C
American Sniper A
Amy C
Ant-Man A-
Avengers Age of Ultron A-
Back to the Future 1 A+
Back to the Future 2 C+
Back to the Future 3 B
Breakfast at Tiffanys A
Bridge of Spies C
Brooklyn A
Cinderella A+
Creed A
Do You Believe B
DUFF C
Ex-Machina B+
Fantastic 4 D
Far from the Maddening Crowd B+
Freetown A+
Furious 7 B-
Good Dinosaur A
Goosebumps B-
Grease C
Home D
Home Alone A+
Hotel Transylvania 2 C
I’ll See You in my Dreams B
Imitation Game B+
In the Heart of the Sea D
Inside Out A+
Interstellar A+
It’s a Wonderful Life A+
Jupiter Ascending C+
Jurassic World C
Learning to Drive C
Longest Ride B-
Love and Mercy B-
Love the Coopers C-
Mad Max: Fury Road A-
Man from UNCLE C
Maze Runner Skorch Trials D
McFarland USA A
Me Earl and the Dying Girl C
Minions C-
Mission Impossible 5: Rogue Nation B+
Monkey Kingdom B
Mr Holmes C+
My Fair Lady A+
Paddington A+
Peanuts Movie A+
Pitch Perfect 2 B-
Pixels D+
Ricki and the Flash C+
Roman Holiday A+
Room A-
Selma A
Shaun the Sheep B+
Song of the Sea A+
Spectre C+
Spongebob: Sponge out of water B
Spotlight A+
Star Wars: Force Awakens A
Steve Jobs B-
Strange Magic D
Suffragette D
Terminator Genisys D+
Testament of Youth A-
The 33 C
The Big Short B-
The Drop Box B+
The Gift B+
The Intern C
The Martian A+
The Prophet B-
The Room (Riff Trax gets an A) F
The Visit C-
The Walk C
Theory of Everything B-
Tomorrowland C-
Un gallo con muchos huevos C
Walk in the Woods C+
Walt Before Mickey D
War Room C-
When Marnie was There A
Whiplash B+
Woman in Gold C-
Woodlawn B-
I thought this was pretty brilliant from the Nostalgia Critic:
So I will say my peace on the issue.
I like both movies!!! Both make my top 10 Disney Canon films. Tangled is at 4, Frozen is at 7. So I guess that makes me a true hipster! I refuse to take a side.
Here’s the thing’s I like about both films.
Tangled- It’s Disney’s first romantic comedy. The banter between Flynn and Rapunzel is just great. They feel like a real couple and the fact Rapunzel accepts Flynn, even prefers him as Eugene is so lovely. Flynn’s sacrifice for Rapunzel is something we’ve really only seen in Beauty and the Beast. Usually it is the woman or princess in a Disney film that is incapacitated and the prince rescuing her (ie Sleeping Beauty, Snow White etc). We even have Aladdin where he refuses to make the sacrifice for Jasmine- for good reason so he can free the Genie but she is nevertheless a subordinate to his choices. Here Rapunzel decides if she can save Flynn. That’s great.
We also have Flynn narrating the film and a variety of both male characters that make Tangled appeal to both boys and girls. This is balanced by Rapunzel being such a likable character and Mother Gothel being a terrific villain. You could say there is something for everyone in Tangled!
The action is really fun in Tangled and the animation is wonderful. I had sworn off animation for a long time. Aside from Pixar films I wasn’t seeing it or watching it. Then I went to Tangled with my siblings and the lanterns in 3D blew me away. I’ll never forget it.
A lot of people are tough on the songs but I enjoy them. I like the fun songs like I Have a Dream and When Will My Life Begin?. I LOVE the villain song Mother Knows Best and I think the romantic ballad is very sweet in I See the Light.
I also agree with Doug, Maximus and Pascal are fantastic comic relief and overall Tangled is an entertaining, beautiful, heartwarming film. It’s also one of Disney’s most rewatchable.
Frozen- It’s Disney’s first true Broadway musical. Yes, their films have been retconned into Broadway musicals like Lion King, Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast, but those films are more of a classical sound, where Frozen is Broadway in all it’s belting glory. As a huge Broadway buff that was such a thrill! The Lopez’ songs and getting the divine Idina Menzel to sing the part of Elsa put Frozen on another level than any other Disney film for me.
There are some holes in the backstory with Frozen but there are with Beauty and the Beast and neither bothers me a bit. A good movie will sweep you up so you don’t mind those leaps. Again, I’m just sharing my OPINION, so if it differs from yours, that’s awesome.
The thing I like about the backstory with Elsa is that unlike Ariel (who I think she mirrors in many ways) Elsa is told if she messes up or rebels, she will kill her sister. That’s entirely different than Ariel’s grotto being destroyed or other threats. This keeps her hidden and fearful and it is empowering when she finally does ‘let it go’! At least it was for me. Can you imagine what a burden it is to worry what makes you, you could kill someone? And then to finally be free from that burden?
A couple things that make Frozen special is it is the first Disney princess movie with 2 princesses and I think that is great. It’s nice to have 2 characters to enjoy and I like both story arcs (again just my OPINION!). We even get Disney’s first Queen! Elsa is actually coronated as Queen, which I think is part of what makes her such a compelling character. She’s got power both ostensibly and inside her own body.
I know some people don’t like the ending. Fair enough but I thought it was pure truth. I have 3 sisters and the struggle of Anna to try and understand her sister I really related too. I also related to Elsa and her struggle to be her true self. When they save each other I thought it was moving.
I also enjoy Kristoff and find him a likable, sarcastic, funny character. His interactions with Sven are very funny. I like Olaf and find him funnier than Maximus and Pascal to be honest. Part of that is Josh Gad’s endearing vocal performance. He also experiences more character growth than many Disney sidekicks- going from the goofy snowman who likes summer, to the one who is willing to melt for a friend.
I know people like to hate on Frozen, but I love it. I really do.
But I also know people that are very tough on Tangled, and I love that too.
What’s wrong with liking both? I like most Disney movies for goodness sakes. In many ways I feel the two movies compliment each other well. I think they are kind of this generations Little Mermaid (Frozen) and Beauty and the Beast (Tangled). I think it is great girls have both stories to dive into just like I did as a little girl. Neither movie has done damage or been bad for my nieces or other little girls to watch. In fact, they have had a great time with both.
So I refuse to pick a side. I’m team ‘I love Disney Princess Movies’. What’s it too you!
I already know a bunch of you are Team Tangled. That’s cool. Feel free to explain why but try to be respectful. Remember- neither is Norm of the North! 🙂
Tonight I got to see the new Coen Brothers film Hail, Caesar in an early screening. It was in my most anticipated of 2016, and what’s the verdict…
It’s ok.
I’d be lying if I came on here and said this is an uproarious comedy from start to finish. It’s not. (I realize comedy is incredibly subjective so I can only speak for myself). But when it does hit, it hits, and I did laugh.
When I laughed, I chuckled. But there were other times when I could tell they were going for a laugh and it fell like a thud.
Hail, Caesar stars George Clooney and Josh Brolin with basically glorified cameos from Scarlet Johansson and Jonah Hill- despite what the poster might lead you to believe. There are also a ton of other actors including Channing Tatum, Ralph Fiennes, Frances McDormand, Alden Ehrenreich, and Tilda Swinton. (It does feel at times that the Coen Brothers called in a lot of favors for this because great actors get such small parts).
The film is an homage to the studio systems of the 50s where a studio called Capitol Studios is making an epic film called Hail, Caesar about ancient Rome and the crucifixion of Christ. George Clooney’s Baird Whitlock is kidnapped by a bunch of communists who want to extort the studio for underpaying them for their scripts. Clooney is fine in the part and there are a few funny moments with the communists and on the set of the film but nothing that had me in stitches.
Josh Brolin is good as Eddie Mannix an executive who manages the studio and seems to have his finger in a million different pies.
I also liked Alden Ehrenreich as Hobie Doyle a country western actor who is put in a posh period piece directed by Ralph Fiennes. Every scene Hobie was in I laughed.
Tilda Swinton is hilarious as two sisters who both write for Hollywood gossip rags and Frances McDormand has one scene that made me laugh.
I also liked Channing Tatum’s song and dance number spoofing musicals like On the Town, South Pacific and White Christmas about singing navy men. A later sequence with him and a submarine, however, fell flat.
So all that stuff worked. The problem is there needed to be more jokes. There were a lot of subplots that weren’t funny and since the story didn’t matter on its own I grew a bit restless. For example, the plot with Scarlet Johansson is not funny and like I said Jonah Hill is in one scene and it isn’t funny.
Some of the communist stuff feels weird and more like reciting a text book than telling a joke. A plotline involving Eddie getting courted by Lockheed Airplanes didn’t need to be there and wasn’t funny (and actually is spent a fare amount of time on). Also some of the antics of trying to find Baird and Eddie listing off tasks to his assistant didn’t really make me laugh.
Overall, I’d say Hail Caesar is worth a rental but I don’t know if I would pay the big bucks to see it in the theater. I laughed. In the end, it was a mixed bag attempt at satire, not the great spoof I was hoping for. Still, some definite laughs, so not a total loss.
If you get to see Hail Caesar let me know what you think.
It’s pretty clean content wise. There are some gay jokes but most of it is pretty subtle. There are also some pokes at religion and politics but nothing too raunchy or offensive.
Hey guys! My friend and fellow animation addict AJ Howell did a fun podcast where we went over the upcoming 2016 animation calendar. We tried to give our insight into 18 films and what we are looking forward too and not so much. I would love your feedback. What about you? What excites you the most in the calendar?
We got a new UK trailer for Zootopia this weekend. I only have a minute but I thought I would share my thoughts on it with you guys. First of all, it is a long trailer that tells a lot about the movie. I have a feeling it shares most of the good jokes and I have a pretty good idea of the plot and what is going to happen. So, if you are someone that doesn’t want to be “spoiled” before a movie and want to know as little as possible- STAY AWAY!
My other worry is the plot feels rather generic. Nick Wilde is a con-man and he and Judy Hopps work together to solve a case seems like something I’ve seen a lot. Plus usually that kind of movie the 2 mismatched investigators end up falling for each other. Can that happen in Zootopia? Are we going to introduce inter-species relationships in Zootopia? That seems weird.
But I do hope the characters, setting and writing are strong enough to boost the generic plot. I still have a good feeling about Judy Hopps and feel she will be a very good character.
We also learned in the trailer the film is going to be called Zootropolis in the UK for some reason. That’s kind of strange?
If you watched the trailer what did you think? Did it temper your enthusiasm at all? Did you think they showed too much? If I”m honest it felt a little Minionsy to me. I worry all the good jokes are in the trailer (and action scenes for that matter).
Let me know what you think!
Also my friend AJ and I are having a google hangout today where we talk about the upcoming year of animation. We’d love to have you participate or put questions in the comments section.
