Month: November 2020

Blind Spot 59: THE LAST UNICORN

| Rachel's Reviews

When I included The Last Unicorn on my blind spot list for 2020 a lot of people were surprised I have never seen this classic animated film. This is probably especially surprising since I did an entire series on the creators Rankin Bass back in 2015. Well, the truth is I never saw this film because it never really interested me. I’m in general not that into fantasy stories and a story with unicorns, wizards and beasts didn’t look like my jam; however, the entire point of blind spots is to get me out of my comfort zone so I decided to go for it this year and watch it. Now I have seen it and my feeling is… it’s fine but not really my thing.

The first thing I will say is that the animation in The Last Unicorn is gorgeous. This is without a doubt the most beautiful film I have seen from Rankin Bass and I particularly loved the way it used color. We recently reviewed the hungarian film Son of the White Mare for Obscure Animation and that came out the year before The Last Unicorn and they struck me as very similar in style and feel (although I prefer White Mare personally).

It must have been a trend in the 80s because The Secret of Nimh also uses colors beautifully. And even the much maligned animated Lord of the Rings from Ralph Bakshi from 1978 has some bold color choices. I could use more of that in contemporary animation. Spiderman: Into the Spiderverse is one of the only recent animated films to use color in an interesting way (maybe Klaus as well).

Anyway, all those technical achievements are fantastic in The Last Unicorn, and I enjoyed watching it as an animation fan. On the other hand, the story wasn’t very compelling. It’s about a unicorn on a quest to find the rest of her kind who have disappeared. Along the way she meets an evil witch, an incompetent magician and briefly gets turned into a human and falls in love.The voice work is all good with the likes of Ala Arkin, Jeff Bridges, and Mia Farrow but I didn’t connect with any of the characters or feel much for what was happening.

So often in fantasy I enjoy the world-building more than the actual story and that’s definitely the case here. It’s not the dullest of the genre but I was tempted to fast forward on a number of occasions especially when she turns into a human. That love story was really treacly and plodding.

Still, I’d recommend watching The Last Unicorn especially if you are an animation fan. The story isn’t the best but it’s not awful either. It’s just a little slow but the music is beautiful,voice acting well done and the again the animation is stunning.

6 out of 10

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[REVIEW] ‘The Ringmaster’

| Rachel's Reviews

It’s no secret how much I love documentaries about new and fascinating people and events. The political propaganda films aren’t my favorite but when they can shed light on unique individuals and interesting phenomenon they can be fascinating. One such example is The Ringmaster, which is directed by Dave Newberg and Molly Dworksy but is the brain-child of filmmaker Zachary Capp. The focus of the documentary is on onion rings- believe it or not. However, it is actually much more than that. It also speaks to themes of addiction, obsession and when to stop pursuing a dream.

It all starts with the best of intentions. Fresh out of rehab for a gambling addiction Capp decides he wants to make a Food Network type show on his neighborhood food destination Larry Lang’s onion rings. At the same time Capp inherits some money and decides to bump the project up into a documentary. As his gambling instincts take over Capp becomes obsessed with creating the perfect ending for Lang’s creation; thereby, giving a happy ending to the movie.

It is this dual aspect of The Ringmaster that makes it interesting. At the same time you are learning about Lang’s onion rings and his simple life you are diving deeper into the obsessive tendencies of Capp and his willingness to manipulate the narrative however he can. And yet we don’t feel angry at Capp because his motivations are so understandable. The promise of the American dream is intoxicating and it’s hard to let go of a project- especially one we’ve been invested in for over 2 years.

The filmmaking and editing of The Ringmaster is pretty basic and low budget but the story is very interesting. I can see them making a feature film on this story and it being quite riveting.

You can rent The Ringmaster on amazon (affiliate link) or at streaming service. Let me know what you think of it if you get to see it.

7 out of 10

Smile Worthy

Current Mini Reviews

| Rachel's Reviews

Hey everyone! I hope you are all doing well. I have been up to my knees reviewing Christmas movies and coordinating interviews over at the Hallmarkies Podcast. Make sure you are subscribed over there but I wanted to give my quick thoughts on a few recent watches I’ve seen over the past few weeks. Some of them are holiday films and some have Oscar buzz. If you’ve seen any of them let me know what you think.

Dolly Parton’s Christmas on the Square

Dolly Parton is as close to an angel human as we have on this planet right now. It was recently reported she has even been contributing to research into the COVID immunization efforts. She has her Imagination Library as well as Dollywood and an array of other businesses and causes that help thousands.

But…this movie isn’t very good. The only way I can think to describe it is it is like going to bad community theater. Everyone looks like they are having a good time and you’re happy for them but that doesn’t change the fact it is terrible. Even Christine Baranski as a Scrooge-type trying to close down an entire town can’t save it. I particularly didn’t care for an adoption storyline that is in very poor taste (no spoilers).

There’s even a scene where Baranski is served alcohol by a little girl and they have a cuddly song together. It was just bad even though I adore Dolly.

3 out of 10

Frown Worthy

A Rainy Day in New York

Now to the opposite problem of Christmas on the Square, here we have a movie by a person of questionable character that I enjoyed. A Rainy Day in New York is by no meas top tier Woody Allen by I did enjoy it. It is bright and funny with a charming script loaded with Allen’s dry wit.

Only Timothée Chalamet could play a character named Gatsby Welles and make him entertaining. He’s definitely a privileged snot but he’s also clueless and desperate in an appealing way. Elle Fanning is our young innocent ingenue sent to interview director Liev Schreriber and she’s fun. Jude Law and Selena Gomez have memorable scenes. It’s not a movie that will stay with me for years to come but as a light-hearted lark it’s a good time.

6.5 out of 10

Smile Worthy

The Christmas Chronicles: Part Two

One thing that might surprise people unfamiliar with Hallmark movies is they don’t often tell North Pole stories. Occasionally you will have a Santa or some Christmas magic but almost never Santa Claus based films. So with this knowledge, I really enjoyed the first Christmas Chronicles film. It was whimsical and sweet with Kurt Russell having a blast as a kick-butt Santa Claus. Unfortunately I found this sequel to be a disappointment. It’s harmless but I can’t really recommend it.

The two biggest problems I had with The Christmas Chronicles: Part Two is the lead little girl is unlikable and annoying and the villain played by Julian Dennison is poorly executed. I hate to be mean on a young actor but I have not been impressed by Dennison’s acting of late. I thought he was terrible in Deadpool 2 (Once Upon a Deadpool that I saw) and he’s really bad here. Everything he says feels so forced and wooden it’s awkward rather than fun.

Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn are great and there is a nice reconciliation at the end but it’s also too long at 112 minutes. This one I will have to say pass and just watch the original instead.

4.5 out of 10

Frown Worthy

Pieces of a Woman

Pieces of a Woman is a film you should definitely expect to hear about come Oscar season. It is a brutal, searing, emotional film with a great performance by Vanessa Kirby- particularly the first 25 minutes. It honestly feels like a documentary at times it is so real and visceral. I don’t think it is spoiling to say the movie starts with the birth of a child and it is the most immersive childbirth scene I’ve ever seen in a film. It’s intense!

After the birth it becomes more of a melodrama but it is still good and the acting is superb. It’s probably not something I will ever watch again; however, I recommend it to anyone who can stomach the intense scenes.

7 out of 10

Smile Worthy

Alien Xmas-

Now for a hard left turn from Pieces of a Woman let’s talk about the adorable stop motion special on Netflix called Alien Xmas. There’s a grand tradition of animated shorts at the holidays and this could end up in that group which is watched each year. It tells the story of an alien that is mistaken for a toy by a little girl and must fight his natural urge to steal all the presents from the little kids.

I love stop motion animation and this is no exception. The alien is so cute and its transformation is very sweet and tender. It has a nice message and the whole family will enjoy it.

8 out of 10

Smile Worthy

[REVIEW] ‘SPARK: A BURNING MAN STORY’

| Rachel's Reviews

It’s interesting in 2020 I find myself feeling nostalgic for things I didn’t even participate in. For example, when professional hockey and tennis came back I felt it a triumph of the human spirit, despite my nearly never watching a game of either sport. It’s the same way with events I didn’t attend or performances I didn’t care about. Most of them are still canceled but when they do come back I will shed a tear that people are gathering again no matter the reason.

This is basically how I feel about the Burning Man Festival, which I have no interest in attending but watching the documentary Spark: A Burning Man which was made in 2012 made me hopeful for the day when those who enjoy it will be able to do it again in safety. I hope we do not allow ourselves to be paralyzed by fear forever when safe solutions and adaptations are implemented. It’s a scary time to be a human. That’s for sure.

Anyway, I was asked to review the documentary Spark: A Burning Man and it is a very interesting film. On the surface it’s a by-the-numbers documentary about the effort which goes into putting on the massive Burning Man Festival each year in Nevada. Every year a city is constructed in the Black Rock Desert out of nothing and a blissful existence of commerce free life lasts for 2 artistic fueled weeks.

However, when you dig beneath the effigies and hippies there are 50 full time employees and thousands of hours of labor which go into making the seemingly anarchistic even happen in the wilderness. It was this duality of themes which fascinated me in Spark: A Burning Man. They literally have an art installation called ‘Burn Wall Street’ with a building ‘Goldman Sucks’ that takes months to build and lots of time in board rooms to coordinate and plan. If that’s not irony I don’t know what is!

It’s also very ironic that the Burning Man Festival is an activity for the rich and well off who want to pretend to be artists for a few weeks. One article I read said a basic estimate for a 4 day trip to the festival will cost $2218 with it going as high as $20,000. The film Spark: A Burning Man dives into this irony particularly talking about the groups attempt to institute a ticket lottery and the resulting backlash but they could have dived even more. Do these Silicon Valley glamping camps fit into Burning Man’s guiding principals?

Either way, if you like seeing how things come together, and seeing some escapism from a simpler time I recommend Spark: A Burning Man. It could dive in deeper into the irony of the situation, but I still found it interesting, and am glad I took the time to watch it.

6 out of 10

Smile Worthy

Is Peanuts Going to Streaming a Problem?

| Rachel's Reviews

Everyone knows I am the Queen of Christmas. In fact, even though it is barely the first week of November I have already watched 2 dozen new Christmas movies. You can find my thoughts on all of these films over at The Hallmarkies Podcast where we cover all things Christmas!

The only problem with this podcast is I don’t have much time to watch the classic Christmas movies like It’s a Wonderful Life or A Christmas Story. There just isn’t enough time in the day to watch everything I want to.

However, one program I always make time for is the Peanuts Holiday Specials– particularly A Charlie Brown Christmas. Not only is this short animated, which gives it an edge in my book, but it’s quite possibly the perfect treatise on the value of Christmas. Poor Charlie Brown worries about the commercialization of Christmas and what changes his mind? Well, finding a little tree that only he believes in and Linus reciting Luke 2 from the Bible. It doesn’t get much better than that if you ask me.

Recently it was announced the specials would not be airing on ABC for the first time since their creation in 1965. Instead you have to see them on the streaming service Apple+. While they are offering them for free for anyone who wants to view them, I can’t help but feeling this is a loss for all of us Christmas movie fans.

Hearing Linus recite Luke 2 is one of the last remaining vestiges of faith left on network television. It was an event every year that brought us together to celebrate Christ and His birth. Now everyone will be watching in their own time and space, which is great, but particularly in 2020 I am lonesome for shared experiences of faith. If we can’t go to church surely they could have left us Linus and Luke 2?

Hopefully we can still gather with our family and friends and watch A Charlie Brown Christmas together this holiday season. It may not be a world-wide broadcast but at least it will be a gathering sharing the importance of the season. I’m up for it and I hope you will be too!

What do you think? Is the loss of the Peanuts Specials to Apple+ a loss or just a sign of the times? Let me know in the comments section