Hey guys! I think you will all enjoy this a lot. I love a great score to a movie. I’m a lover of classical music and when you have a story behind said music it makes it even better.
I have a little hobby of collecting scores of all types and then listening to them while I work. This isn’t as distracting as vocal music can be but you still get the entertainment and the story.
I thought it would be fun to put together a list of my favorite scores. Some of these are part of strong movies and others are not. So the quality of the movie doesn’t really affect the value of the score.
That said, some of these are integral in making the movie work. Rescuers Down Under, for instance, uses the John Williamesque score to give the feeling of an Indiana Jones type adventure very effectively.
I also tried to put in some variety because I don’t only like epic scores but also the electric video game feel to Wreck It Ralph and the pop anime influence of Big Hero 6.
If I had to pick 2 favorites it would probably be Lion King and Bambi because in both films the score tells a lot of the story, especially Bambi. Instead of having sound effects for rain, it is music. Without the score Bambi would be a much weaker movie.
(Also I’m not counting Fantasia, Fantasia 2000 or Sleeping Beauty since those aren’t original scores. If I did they would clearly be the top)
What are some of your favorites?
This list is in no particular order
Beauty and the Beast by Alan Menken
Great Mouse Detective by Henry Mancini
Black Cauldron by Elmer Bernstein
Rescuers Down Under by Bruce Broughton
Frozen by Christophe Beck
Treasure Planet by James Newton Howard
Mulan by Jerry Goldsmith
Pocahontas by Alan Menken
Hunchback of Notre Dame by Alan Menken
Pinocchio by Leigh Harline and Paul J Smith
Bambi by Frank Churchill and Edward H Plumb
Little Mermaid by Alan Menken
Lion King by Hanz Zimmer
Snow White by Paul J Smith and Leigh Harline
Wreck it Ralph by Henry Jackman
Big Hero 6 by Henry Jackman
Alice in Wonderland by Oliver Wallace
Princess and the Frog by Randy Newman
Winnie the Pooh by Sherman Brothers and Buddy Baker
I’ve mentioned on this blog several times how I have always loved the art of criticism, particularly film criticism. I grew up watching Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert debating about movies passionately like someone had insulted their child and not a movie. Gene and Roger taught me to love movies but also that part of the fun of movies was talking about them with friends.
Unfortunately I don’t have that many friends who love movies in my real life. I’m not sure why but most of my friends are more TV people than movies which is cool and certainly can provide much to talk about but there is something about the whole story of a movie which excites me in a different way. Books you live with characters for many hours. TV shows you get regular updates on said characters and plots; whereas, a movie you get the whole story in 2 hours and that’s exciting.
So I turn to the blog community and discuss the movies I see and 99% of the time I have a wonderful experience. Like Gene and Roger sometimes we disagree strongly on films but again that is part of the fun of it.
However, there is something that annoys me in the online movie community. I feel like some critics/bloggers approach reviews like I do when given a manuscript to review. If I’m being requested as an editor I am going into said reading looking for what can be better, looking for mistakes. That is different than my approach as a general reader of books.
Sometimes I feel like people go into movies trying to be an editor and not an audience member. Instead of letting the movie dazzle you and having an open mind you nitpick every little thing that doesn’t make sense or requires a logical leap for the story. Every little last flaw is noted until it seems like they had a miserable experience at the movie.
To be fair, there is something about truly bad movies that invites that type of analysis. I heard Emma Thompson say once ‘only in bad movies do you notice the craft services table in the shot’ and that is so true. If I’m enjoying the experience and loving the characters I am way less likely to care if a plot hole exists or a character is one-note.
We also all have our tastes and it is impossible to go into a movie with a completely blank slate. If you are a part of the movie online community you are going to hear buzz, watch trailers and have some expectations. For example, many people seem to be disappointed with Interstellar because probably partly the expectations were very high (haven’t seen it yet) whereas Gravity was more of a pleasant surprise for a lot of us since it’s not supposed to be a Christopher Nolan masterpiece.
So yes we all have some preconceived notions going into a film but I try to set those aside and am more than willing to admit when a movie surprised me. For instance, I hated The Rescuers, so wasn’t expecting to like Rescuers Down Under and then the movie dazzled me and won me over.
Recently I was so impressed with Big Hero 6. I thought it was something new and different from Disney and was just charmed by it from beginning to end. For the most part critics agreed with me but the blogging community has been more mixed. Many are in the middle on it which I respect and can understand but one review I listened to yesterday said ‘it was the weakest Disney offering in the last 20 years’. I’m sorry but that is just absurd. You are going to tell me that Big Hero 6 is worse than Chicken Little? I defy anyone to make that case.
Such hyperbole I suppose gets clicks but sometimes I wonder with certain bloggers if going to movies is such an unpleasant experience than why go? Some are so routinely negative on their posts that I don’t get why they go to the movies at all unless they just like criticizing stuff.
That’s not to say I don’t enjoy a bad movie review. I love the Nostalgia Critic and every year get a kick out of Jeremy Jahns or the Schmoes Know’s Worst of the Year list. Why? Because it is either funny in the case of the NC or they have proven their viability in recommending many good movies that I trust them with their bad reviews. I have seen their perspectives fleshed out in videos so even if I disagree and like a move they hate I can understand where they are coming from and respect it.
When I was reviewing the renaissance periods I started reading the rotten reviews on rotten tomatoes because I figured ‘who doesn’t like these movies?’ (at least Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast and Lion King). I mean I can see it not being a favorite but to say they are rotten is nuts IMO. I started to notice that in many Disney classics a magazine called Slant kept coming up on the rotten side. This magazine gave Beauty and the Beast 1 1/2 stars. They gave Little Mermaid 2 and Lion King 2 1/2. I’m sorry but that just screams ‘click baiting!’. They want people to go to their website because most people just look up one such movie review. Those clickers don’t realize this is a magazine that clearly is trying to stir the pot and be an agitator. Once I saw they were so universally critical and couldn’t really back it up they certainly lost my respect.
There is a certain part of the online community that behaves in this way. They want to attract attention so they dog on things that others love instead of trying to see some value. Again, why? What does that offer in the way of discussion and conversation about movies to just criticize everything?
If we go back to Siskel and Ebert they were advocates of film. You knew they wanted every movie to be good so you respected their opinions when it wasn’t, even if you disagreed. One of their most famous reviews was for the movie North, which I have not seen given their warnings. This review was over-the-top but it was because they had such passion for films that it was taken seriously by most people. If they harped this way on all movies their feelings on North would have been unmemorable.
It’s a tough to do but I wish more bloggers would try to be an advocate for film. If animation is your thing than be an advocate for it. Explain to me why a film frustrates you because you love the art and it even angers you to see it done so poorly. But also share with me that transcendent experience of when a movie works and takes you to a new place, makes you a better person. I’ve tried to do both and enjoyed it immensely. Siskel and Ebert were amazing advocates for films they loved. If we look at their review of Hoop Dreams we see equal passion as their hate for North.
That’s what I hope my reviews do. Yes, I have movies I hate but it’s only because I love Disney and animation so much that the failures frustrate me! In fact, I recently did a worst of list; however, there were only 3 F’s in all my reviews (4 if you count my Maleficent) so even a movie like The Rescuers which I personally hate I still had some good things to say about and gave it 2 grades because I can see why others really like it. I think only having 3 Fs says something about my love for animation. If there were 25 F’s than my reviews start to lose any sense of credibility. (I had 22 A’s!)
We are so lucky to live in an era where we can all be part of this discussion, not just the professionals.
A youtuber that I think does this balance of critique and finding the positives is named Oliver Harper. I can’t give enough praise for his reviews. They are thorough, almost more like a podcast than a 5 minute review, and he covers everything from the music, to the casting, to everything else. He always shows such respect for any movie even true stinkers like Batman and Robin and again it gives his reviews a lot of credibility in my book.
In fact, most youtubers are very fair and most bloggers, so I am talking to a small minority here. I’m talking to the people who just never seem to have anything nice to say. They just have such miserable experiences at every movie that it seems like a hopeless enterprise. Maybe start reading or playing video games or something else and maybe you’ll enjoy that more?
Like I said, I really don’t mind when a critic dogs on a film. In fact, I find it quite entertaining but it has to be earned and the approach of the review should be as an audience member not as an editor with a red pen marking all the stuff that is wrong.
When I was doing the Mulan review I started looking at feminist blogs and was overwhelmed at how negative many of them were. They just hated every movie and again it begs the question why are you watching movies? There was one I saw that had 10 movies they recommended and literally 100s of 0 to 1 star including Mulan. Groan.
That’s why I was pleasantly surprised by frequent commenter on this blog Swanpride and her feminist media blog ‘Honoring the Heroine’. I don’t always agree with her but I enjoy talking about movies with her. I think some issue bloggers like feminism see themselves more as voices of protest than movie lovers. One such site said ‘it’s time to be vocal about what needs to change”. I’m sorry but we are talking about movies. This is not politics with laws that could hurt or help women. The idea that your nitpicking every movie is somehow part of a great change for women I find laughable. If anything the honoring approach of Swanpride is much more likely to change anything in leading people to positive portrayals of women, but in the end it’s entertainment. Want to change the plight of women? Stop harping about movies and go volunteer at a shelter or help UNICEF. Honestly these movie blog crusades are just silly.
Again, back to Siskel and Ebert, that passion and discussion is what makes movie-going fun. And I feel a lot of bloggers, crusaders or not, miss the fun part of it and just try to to turn the word critic from a noun into a verb.
When I wrote my Wreck It Ralph review I was nervous because I do not love that movie as much as other people do. I don’t hate it but to me it is average. I defended what I had to say as well as I could and surprisingly didn’t get much of a pushback. I have to believe that is partly because I had established a blog with a tone that was fair and passionate about animation. People are less likely to be resistant of your opinion if they can tell you respect them, their feelings and the film they love.
Anyway, this long rant is just to say be positive, expect to be dazzled and then when you find movies you don’t like go for it! But enough already with the trolls and jerks and let’s have real critics. Don’t just be the Statler and Waldorf of movie blogs. Just be yourself and let your passion for films come out and enjoy the discussion!
I’ve been trying to get through the 2014 animated releases and I’m not going to post reviews on all of them (Sorry Nut Job and Legend’s of Oz aren’t worth my time) but occasionally I will. Tonight I watched Disney’s Planes: Fire and Rescue.
This is a sequel to 2013’s Planes which didn’t get very good reviews but did well at the box office. Both films were spin offs from the Pixar Cars films but are done by the Disney Toons Studio and I enjoyed both. They aren’t masterpieces but I thought they were fun. The sequel Fire and Rescue is actually better than the original.
The key to the Cars or Planes movies is accepting the world upfront because it is incredibly silly. The idea of a world completely of mechanical items like cars and planes is a stretch and it does not hold up to any kind of thoughtful analysis. For example, why are there no robots? If a world can somehow procreate planes, cars and trains why not robots? They have televisions? Also we know there is death in the car/plane world because the old Paul Newman car died in the first Cars film but if a car is given a new engine, and retooled like a hot-rod is it somehow resurrected or does it have an entirely new personality? See I’m already down the rabbit hole on this one…
So you have to make a logical leap and just go with the world presented. Some people can’t do that but for whatever reason I can. The same is true for the much maligned Cars 2. The idea of cars being secret agents is so strange but in a world with only cars they probably would need secret agent cars. There probably would be car crime unless it is a world of only peace loving cars and planes.
Again, digging too deep on this one! It’s just a world of cars and planes for kids that like cars and planes. That’s it. So in this sequel Dusty has become a star on the racing circuit but at the outset his ‘gear box’ is giving him grief and unfortunately his gear box is no longer in production (another weird part of this world. Who decides what cars are worthy of life saving organs and others are not…) so he can no longer race.
I love it in animated movies when characters fly and the flying sequences in this film are gorgeous. It really has a sense of scope and majesty. The scenery is beautiful although later it appeared to be a combination of Yellowstone and Yosemite but I guess in their made up world that can happen?
So Dusty causes a fire in the airport wing that threatens to close down their Corn Festival (I guess they need corn to turn into ethenol?) if they do not get a firefighter plane on site soon, so Dusty gets sent to the National Park to learn how to fight fires.
This again is beautifully drawn and felt like a national park. The scenes of the firefighting training and the characters were a lot of fun.
There’s a helicopter named the Blade Ranger who is a former celebrity TV star that had to settle for fighting fires (isn’t that similar to the Paul Newman car?) and there is Dipper who falls in love with Dusty. Again, best not to overthink that one. There’s a fire that is encroaching upon a new lodge and the evil Cadillac car doesn’t want to evacuate and miss his grand opening (another greedy corporate villain but I didn’t mind it because he’s not in that much of the movie).
Dusty is conflicted with his excitement over learning to fight fires and his love for racing that has just been taken from him. The helicopter Blade Ranger can relate to that feeling and they have some nice dialogue together.
All the voice performances are pretty good with Dane Cook, Stacy Keach, Brad Garrett, Teri Hatcher, Julie Bowen, Ed Harris and more. And the music is very good with a score by Mark Mancina with songs from Brad Paisley (another carry-over from Cars).
But mostly the movie works pretty well because it jumps from one flying sequence to another. They keep the action going and there is more than one fire which are all drawn quite vividly. There isn’t many moments when you stop and say ‘wait a minute. How would that work?’ and certainly a kid won’t worry about such things. They will just enjoy a story about cars and planes zooming in and out of canyons and putting out fires.
This is kind of like my review of God’s Not Dead. If you read my description of this movie and it sounds like you will hate it than you will probably hate it but if it doesn’t sound that bad than you will probably enjoy it. It has good voice work, great flying sequences, beautiful animation of fire and non-fire settings and a briskly paced story. I think boys will particularly enjoy it.
Of course it has problems and it is not a top tier Disney film but I don’t think it is really trying to be. Within the limitations of the world they were given I think it is about as a good a movie as could be made. I had a fine time watching it.
So people love a worst of list including myself. There’s something fun about dogging on the hard work of hundreds of people and a giant studio like Disney. Every year I love watching all the worst films lists on my favorite youtubers (and loved it back in the Siskel and Ebert days). In Disney’s defense they have very few true stinkers. There are only 3 that I would really call stinkers and even them I would rather watch than stinkers from other studios like this years Legend’s of Oz, The Lorax or The Smurf movies. So this is all relative.
But you guys asked for it so here goes…
Worst Movies (you know this from my rankings).
Gold- Dinosaur
Silver- Chicken Little
Bronze- Brother Bear
Worst Villain-
Gold- Radcliffe- Pocahontas
Silver-Sykes- Oliver and Company
Bronze- Kron- Dinosaur
Character I Personally Dislike the Most-
Gold- Medusa, Rescuers
Silver- Buck Cluck, Chicken Little
Bronze- Kenai, Brother Bear
Worst Songs-
Gold- Say it with a Slap, Bongo from Fun and Fancy Free
Silver- Mine, Mine, Mine, Pochahontas
Bronze- A Guy Like You, Hunchback of Notre Dame
Worst Protagonist-
Gold- Kenai, Brother Bear
Silver- Taran, Black Cauldron
Bronze- Pocahontas, Pocahontas
Worst Sidekick-
Gold- Gargoyles, Hunchback of Notre Dame
Silver- Koda, Brother Bear
Bronze- All the Cows, Home on the Range
Most Offensive Disney Moment-
Gold- Redman, Peter Pan
Silver- Judge Frollo burning family alive, Hunchback
Bronze- Ending, Jungle Book
Most Boring Disney Movies-
Gold- Dinosaur
Silver- Three Caballeros
Bronze- Brother Bear
Worst Script-
Gold- Home on the Range
Silver- Chicken Little
Bronze- Oliver and Company and Brother Bear tied
Movies that Others Like that I Don’t (don’t hate them but not crazy about them either)-
Gold- Sword in the Stone
Silver- Hunchback of Notre Dame
Bronze- Wreck it Ralph
Aristocats a lot of people give a pass too.
Corniest Movie-
Gold- Fox and the Hound
Silver- Home on the Range
Bronze- Brother Bear
There you go! Remember just an opinion. Everyone has different tastes and these are just mine.
This is the review you’ve been waiting for. #54- Big Hero 6 and boy did it not disappoint. I will do my best to keep it spoiler free and won’t tell you any more than the trailer (maybe even less because it’s kind of a spoilery trailer).
I was really excited to see this movie and that usually means I’m a little disappointed unless you are Pixar but in this case John Lasseter has worked his pixie dust and made an extremely satisfying movie. I would be stunned if you didn’t find something to like, even love about the movie.
It is based on an obscure marvel comic much like Guardians of the Galaxy this summer Big Hero 6 creates a super hero movie of unlikely members and gives the movie just enough laughs, excitement and tears (I actually cried a lot).
Big Hero 6 is written and directed by Disney vets Don Hall (Winnie the Pooh) and Chris Williams (Bolt and Mulan) with Paul Briggs (Frozen), and Joseph Mateo (Tangled).
The setting for Big Hero 6 is unique. It is a futuristic fusion of San Francisco and Tokyo called San Fransokyo which I thought was very clever. It is futuristic but only slightly so. There aren’t flying cars or anything too out there. Again kind of the way Guardians of the Galaxy felt futuristic and nostalgic at the same time . San Fransokyo was beautifully portrayed and if you can see it in 3D do because it was so immersive and gorgeous. One of Disney’s best cityscapes ever.
The story is about a boy named Hiro who is a genius orphan (of course. It’s Disney!) who lives with his brother and Aunt Cass. Hiro is an instantly likable character. Kind of like Ralph in Wreck it Ralph or Aladdin. He’s smart and sweet and sassy.At the beginning he is just frittering away his talent at ‘bot fights’ which are illegal gambling operations kind of a like a cock fight. His brother Tadashi is also a genius but he is applying his talents at the local technical school (supposed to be Cal Poly I think) where he works with robotics.
This is stated pretty clearly in the trailer but tragedy strikes and Tadeshi is killed but he leaves behind a robot he has invented that is kind of like a robot nurse. His name is Baymax and he looks like the Stay-Puff Marshmallow man.
I don’t know when I’ve seen a character I’ve taken too so immediately as Baymax. He is warmth and love and his soul purpose is to care for Hiro. It is kind of like the ultimate mother.
Then we get our villain who was pretty clever. I won’t go too much into things but it surprised me. He has layers and is not clean cut like some bad guys.
To defeat the masked man Hiro reprograms Baymax to fight while still keeping his brothers code for caring. Then the team at the school gather to support Hiro and become our rag-tag group of super heroes. They were so much fun!
I loved there were different races and sexes and that Hiro is 13. It’s so rare in a Disney movie that the protagonist is a child or young teenager. Most are young adults.
The voice cast is excellent and mostly unknowns but all excellent. Ryan Potter voices Hiro Hamada, Scott Adsit is Baymax and Daniel Henney is Tadashi and they are all great. The only famous voices are TJ Miller as Fred (one of the college guys who becomes the team), Damon Wayans Jr as Wasabi (the black guy on the crew), Maya Rudolph as Aunt Cass and James Cromwell as Professor Callaghan.
The score is wonderful by Henry Jackman and includes little snippets of pop music like Eye of a Tiger but it is brief and there is a good song you’ll hear in the trailers called Immortals by Fall Out Boy.
There is such heart in this movie. It reminded me of Up in the way we bond with a character quickly and we see their importance to our protagonist and that love we feel for the deceased character lives as a palatable force throughout the movie. Just like Ellie’s love for Carl painted every scene in Up with love so does Hiro’s interactions with Baymax remind us of the love of his brother Tadashi.
It’s hard to think of a movie about two brothers which is so well done. How nice after Disney gave us the love of 2 sisters they give us equal heart with brothers.
But if that kind of heart isn’t your thing there is also a nifty plot and fun action adventure like any other Marvel film. Like I said, the villains really surprised me and there’s a good twist. If you like The Incredibles Big Hero 6 is right up there with it. It’s got everything Incredibles has but it’s about a group of friends instead of a family . They are both wonderful so high praise!
Also the crew all have fun personalities and bring in a lot of humor.
I think there is something in Big Hero 6 for everyone. It’ looks gorgeous, great performances, wonderful music, fun story, great heart. What more could you want?
Once again I admire Disney on being so bold . I can’t think of an animated movie which has such real, modern feeling characters. At least not since Oliver and Company!
I really will be shocked if you guys don’t love it. What an amazing year for animation 2014 has been and I hope they nominate 5 films because Lego, Big Hero 6, Book of Life, Boxtrolls and How to Train Your Dragon 2 all deserve recognition. I honestly have no idea which I like most. They are all so different and wonderful!
Anyway, I loved Big Hero 6. It made me cry, laugh and carried me away with the adventure. There is a brief section in the middle with fighting that dragged a little bit but other than that I’d say it was perfect.
Overall Grade- A+ This is officially now my new #6 in my rankings!
I will be seeing Big Hero 6 in the next 3 hours! Oh boy!
I was talking with a friend about Robin Hood and told her despite its problems it is one of the most rewatchable Disney’s. What I mean by that is some movies are masterpieces but more weighty than the kind of thing I want to watch over and over again .
So what are those movies that I don’t mind repeat and frequent rewatching? What’s the one that if I’m feeling like a movie that will entertain but not challenge me what do I pick? I will add that I seem to have a unique high tolerance for repetition. Other people tire of music, movies, food, books and I just don’t. If it is something I like than I like it forever and repeatedly.
That said, some films like The Lion King I love but the intensity makes it tough to rewatch again and again.
I will also say that all of the Pixar movies with the exception of Brave (yes even Cars 2) are very rewatchable. That’s why I’ve struggled to write up reviews of Pixar ,movies . How many ways can I say masterpiece?
Here goes in no particular order:
1. Tangled- romantic comedies are probably my favorite genre to rewatch. Tangled is funny, light, joyous, beautiful and a terrific villain.
2. Robin Hood- Maybe not the most ambitious Disney film but the humor makes it very rewatchable. I love the voice performances and while it is a bit too long it is so much fun I enjoy rewatching it.
3. Jungle Book- I hate the ending but other than that it is charming, funny, and the music is the true star. It clips along so well with moments of real heart. It is certainly up there in the movies I’ve seen the most.
4. Emperor’s New Groove- Again not the most ambitious but so full of laughs that it is great to rewatch. Comedies are often the best for rewatching as we don’t always feel up to an intense emotional experience.
5. Aladdin- Another comedy makes the list but Aladdin is so much fun with the manic energy of Robin Williams. Every time I see it I spot a new impression or moment I had missed before. It will entertain both boys and girls equally and it is just one I wouldn’t mind watching on most any day.
6. Frozen- I can see many of you roll your eyes because you are sick of this movie. I repeat I don’t get sick of movies. If I like them I like them and I like Frozen. I could listen to the music all day and the humor is great, pacing a lot of fun and I just enjoy watching it most any day.
7. Lady and the Tramp- sweet, simple, romantic and with some tension and laughs. Just something so pleasant I can’t think of a time when I would not enjoy watching it. As the poster says the ‘happiest motion picture’ from early Disney.
8. 101 Dalmatians- A lot of of humor with Cruella, fun lively story, lots of great characters. Dry with with Horace and Jasper. Always at the top of my rewatch list.
9. Lilo and Stitch- Probably my most emotional film on this list but it is so lovingly told and Lilo is such a real kid I am drawn to the picture despite my dislike for Stitch. Maybe part of it is I find the Hawaiian local and music so relaxing it’s an easy rewatch for me.. It brings back many happy memories.
10. Mulan- Another movie with a lot of humor, romance, heart, and excitement. Just thoroughly entertaining and not too deep or morose like other less rewatchable films.
Honorable Mentions- Beauty and the Beast although it feels a little long for a frequent rewatch, Little Mermaid because of my nostalgia for it, and Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh which is probably the most rewatchable for little one’s.
Let’s just start this review by saying I was incredibly skeptical going into Maleficent. The recent fairytale adaptations have been so bad. In recent years we’ve gotten Tim Burton’s awful Alice in Wonderland, Snow White and Huntsman, Mirror Mirror, Red Riding Hood, Return to Oz have all been dark, gloomy, boring, ponderous pieces of junk. Yep, that’s what I think.
So I was not excited about Maleficent but I always try to go into a movie with an open mind hoping to be dazzled. And…
Here’s the trailer
It’s more of the same I’m afraid. Maleficent basically does to Sleeping Beauty what Phantom Menace did to Star Wars. It waters down it’s iconic villain to the point beyond recognition making her the hero of the story. I get that people are complicated and rarely all bad but a fairytale traditionally is a battle of good vs evil. If it is kind of good vs kind of bad than it ends up being very boring. Imagine if Voldermort had been really a nice guy after all? Would that have captured our interest for 8 films and 7 books? No! Imagine if the Ring of Power was really the ring of goodness and lollipops would Frodo have sacrificed all to destroy it? No! In this kind of story we need evil and we need good and then the story builds around that.
So Maleficent starts out with our backstory and we find out that she is a unique fairy, a fully-sized human where the fairies from the original movie are tiny, strange looking creatures (if you thought the old fairies were annoying get ready…). Plus, they change all the personalities of the fairies. Flora is supposd to be the leader, Fauna is silly and Merryweather is the realist. In this they are all the same. If you look at the original the fairies actually are the brains and heart behind defeating Maleficent. Now they are stupid, negligent and annoying.
So Maleficent is a joyous happy girl who meets a boy named Stefan who is a human boy that she befriends.
They of course end up falling in love in a montage and then Stefan returns to the land of the humans.
There is a battle with the king with the tree people and Maleficent and snoozefest another battle in this type of movie. I’m so sick of the warrior scenes. The tree creatures felt like a copy of tree people we’ve seen in a thousand other movies. I felt that way about most of Maleficent. Seen it all before.
The CGI throughout the movie looks dirty and incredibly fake. When you think of the stunning artistry of Sleeping Beauty, a movie that took almost a decade to make because the layering of the backdrops and the literary quality to the characters this cheesy seen it all before CGI is an embarrassment. It’s like with Return to Oz. Don’t take the brightness and joy of the original and give me a cloudy, murky, CGI ridden world.
So, SPOILER)#$)#@()($)#($)#@($)#($- Don’t read any further if you don’t want to know a few things in the story)
So the king wants revenge on Maleficent for the battle and he tells Stefan if he can kill her and bring him her wings than he will be made King. So we get a pretty good scene where Maleficent and Stefan reunite, cuddle (maybe more?) and then he drugs her and instead of killing her cuts off her wings.
Stefan is played by Sharlto Copley who oddly enough I thought looked like Michael Bay. He’s terrible in the movie. His accent comes in and out and it feels like bad neighborhood theater. There is no chemistry between him and Maleficent at any time which is kind of crucial because it is the reason she is bad is because of her broken heart.
Then we get to the day of the christening and the blessings which are so powerfully done in the original. Instead of a whole ballet like in the original we get a few seconds of Flora giving Aurora beauty and then Merryweather (they change their names here and make them idiots) gives her the wish ‘of never being blue’.
That’s not right!!!! Fauna is supposed to give Aurora the gift of music and then when Maleficent gives the curse Merryweather gives her the gift of being asleep not dead. In this version Maleficent is the one that curses her to sleep not death!!!
Are you kidding me? What kind of a lame villain is this? Cursing her greatest enemy that she will sleep until true love’s kiss? That’s the lamest curse I’ve ever heard. Certainly not worthy of Maleficent.
So Fauna never gives her blessing I’m not sure why. I guess they didn’t want to have Aurora singing? I don’t see why not when you’ve got such a great song from the original which they only use in the credits.
So the the king hides the baby with ‘the idiots’ and they leave her alone for long periods of time where Maleficent looks in on her and is by her side. This makes no sense. Even if you felt some guilt if you were angry enough to curse someone you wouldn’t immediately be by their side watching over them. Grrr
Prince Phillip is in this but very briefly but they try to pull a Frozen twist on it and it is so ridiculous. In the original the scene where Aurora is transfixed and pricks her finger it is eery and frightening. Here it is completely boring. And then we find out that it is the true love of Maleficent that breaks the spell!!!!
Are you kidding me? This is the woman who has horns on her head. She controls minions and locks the prince up in a dungeon and tells him ‘so much for true love!’.
Even if you want to make a more nuanced character you can’t completely change said character. At least the Star Wars prequels as atrocious as they are didn’t negate the originals completely. It’s not like Vader was the hero at the end. No he was very bad and you could see why he would destroy entire planets in the next movies. This completely changes everything about the original.
I’m amazed this didn’t tick more people off. I thought it was outrageous. Shame on you Disney! Wicked, which started this whole trend, told the story how the wicked witch became wicked. It didn’t try to change her so she wasn’t wicked at all.
Now that Aurora is awaken by her true love’s kiss (Maleficent) she rules the combined land s of fairies and men in peace with Maleficent by her side who gets her wings back. Groan, groan, groan.
So good things about it? Jolie is okayish. I’ve heard a lot of people excuse her performance. (Her daughter Viviene is cute as baby Aurora). But I actually thought she shouted most of her lines and they didn’t sound like a real person and since the point of this movie was to create a real person it was a failure. I never felt connected to her or sorry for her. Also her look which everyone loved always looked like a costume not her real body. Basically Maleficent is supposed to be like Voldemort, the epitome of evil. She is a she-devil, horns and all. In this it seemed like someone in a Maleficent costume. Kind of ready to go to a biker bar with leather all about her.
Sorry guys. I know a lot of you liked it but I was not a fan of Maleficent. You cannot go back and completely change the events of a story. Show another side, fine (although still not a fan) but do not permanently change the events of the plot. In the end what they did was a remake of the original and a shoddy one at that. I honestly thought this was worse than Phantom Menace… It also looks murky and dark, the CGI sucks and the acting is really bad.
Overall Grade- F
Unfortunately it made a lot of money so the trend of butchering my favorite childhood movies is going to continue. Next up Cinderella which I am slightly more hopeful about because it has already been done so many times since the 1950 Disney.
PS there is no dancing or singing or once upon a dream and considering the original was based on a Tchaikovsky ballet that is another unfortunate change …No sleeping spell over the town and the dragon isn’t Maleficent after all who isn’t killed by the sword of truth but the crow hurt by the evil King Stefan. Sigh…Yes, they even changed the crow around.
So it’s about 2:30 in the morning and my friends and I had a lovely Halloween together. We ate pizza and talked and then watched Paranorman- a wonderful ghost story that is so inventive and creative. I highly recommend it.
Once everyone had left I found myself awake and looking for something to entertain me as I started my first night of Nanowrimo. What to turn to?
Well, it seemed to fit the night so I put on one of my all time favorite movies, The Wizard of Oz.
Is there a more iconic movie? Maybe Gone with the Wind? But I can’t think of any other movie where you could say a word ‘somewhere’, ‘rainbow’, ‘wicked’, ‘wonderful’, ‘cowardly’ and most people would immediately think of Wizard of Oz.
I saw it last year in the limited release in 3D in the theaters and I was blown away. It hasn’t aged a bit. The songs are spectacular, villain mesmerizing, art direction gorgeous, message is touching and Judy Garland singing. Need I say more? It’s hard to know where even to begin with such a classic.
It’ starts out of course with our gorgeous black and white- sepia tone in fact. We get to meet the entire farm and see Dorothy getting into trouble with cruel neighbor who wants to have her dog Toto committed. She even gets the sheriff to come and take the dog away. This creates a simple dynamic to start off the film. Dorothy loves her dog but all at home want to take that love away from her. She then sings about it in arguably the most perfect vocal performance in movie history. She makes it seem easy.
Without Dorothy and Somewhere Over the Rainbow there wouldn’t be Ariel and Part of Your Word or Elsa and Let it Go. She touches cord with every child, teen and human who has felt misunderstood. The song is both hopeful and hopeless. The last line is so haunting “if happy little blue birds fly beyond the rainbows why oh why can’t I” What human being can’t relate to that?
At last count I had 13 different versions of Over the Rainbow on my ipod. I’ve heard it sung a million different ways and just love it. In fact, I sang it myself at recital. It’s nothing to write home about but I did my best.
Dorothy is so devastated by the threat to her dog she decides to run away but on the way she meets a peddler who helps her realize how much she is needed, which is a major theme of the movie- whether you are a lion, a scarecrow or a little girl we are all needed at home. So she rushes home only to be caught up in a terrific storm. The tornado totally holds up with modern technology and looks great and the music is spectacular.
You feel the panic of it all. It’s very chilling and we see Miss Gulch in the tornado and our first glimpse of a witch on a broomstick. It is brilliant imagery.
Dorothy of course lands in Munchkinland in Oz. She is greeted as a great hero but is also immediately presented with the difference between good and evil. The creativity and inventiveness in every aspect of these early scenes blows me away. Yes they are high pitched Munchkins singing but they created a whole world. It would take until Star Wars till a dichotomy of good vs evil in a new land is as beautifully captured. I don’t know if we ever get another musical fantasy to match it’s equal. Every inch is designed and full of color and light which is the rainbow opposite of Dorothy’s home
Every part is iconic from the yellow brick road, to the ruby slippers to everything else. Margaret Hamilton is so chilling as the Wicked Witch of the West. She overwhelms with hate and bitterness, even for her dog, and part of what makes her work is we have just seen her equal in the human world which makes her seem not all that far-fetched.
So Dorothy starts on her journey where she meets the scarecrow who is obsessed with his lack of a brain, tin man who is obsessed with his lack of a heart and cowardly lion who is obsessed with his lack of courage. Each of these characters are kind of like our troupe in Lord of the Rings. They provide warmth and a quasi-family for Dorothy and are completely charming. Not to mention some terrific songs and dance sequences.
The color and art design is so fabulous with such endearing performances.
My personal favorite is the Cowardly Lion by Bert Lahr. Who doesn’t feel for the shy King of the Forest?
Eventually they make it to the Emerald City where we meet a Wizard of a lot of sound and fury. More great music and he gives the troupe a seemingly impossible task- bring him the broomstick of the Wicked Witch of the West. It’s always effective in storytelling when the task seems greater than the participants capabilities. That’s what makes Harry Potter so good. Harry always seems unequal to his tasks which makes you cheer all the louder when he does.
This scene in the Witches Castle is just about perfect. The Witch is so mean and scary and you feel the panic in Dorothy’s voice. When Toto escapes it is an emotional moment and then when she see’s Auntie Em in the crystal just like she did in the peddler’s ball it will make the most hardened man emotional. Especially to have her emotion mocked by the witch. Again to me it is chilling and scary and emotional and perfection.
The water is a bit lame but how far they take it is chilling with the Scarecrow on fire and all and her last exclamation is so perfect ‘Oh what a world, what a world. Who would have thought a good little girl like you could destroy my beautiful wickedness”.
Hail to Dorothy! The Wicked Witch is dead! It’s such thrilling moment going back to the initial conflict with Miss Gulch. The amount of emotions we get in a short 10 minutes of film is astounding.
So now we think our story is over. She has the broom and she is to see the Wizard but alas we all know about that ‘man behind the curtain’. This is so brilliant because it teaches Dorothy that villainy can be found in many forms and that the great and powerful of this earth are often nothing but a bunch of smoke and mirrors. Real power comes from home and love. It’s like the priests battling Elijah. With all their fire and blood they could not mimic the actual power of God. In some ways the wizard is the true villain of the picture because at least the witch is honest.
Then when all hope seems to be lost we learn ‘there’s no place like home’ and just like Dorothy went home after talking to the peddler about Aunt Em, Dorothy is able to return to her home. The goodbye to particularly the Scarecrow is very touching (I’m telling you this movie gives me every emotion!). Could watch this about a million times.
And she is home. Her journey Over the Rainbow is done and she is home.
Movies are supposed to take you on a journey and I can’t think of one that does that better than Wizard of Oz. It looks gorgeous. The art design is outstanding. The special effects and sound design still hold up. The performances are all great. The music both score and songs are fabulous. The performances are wonderful with Judy Garland perfection. It brings on every emotion from fear, to longing, to friendship, to glee. It is tender and sweet while also being dark and disturbing. It keeps up the theme of Over the Rainbow that life is both hopeful and hopeless but it is always a journey home. There will be evil, charlatans, fools and friends along the way but the goal is always to defeat Satan and return to Our Heavenly Father, to return home.
We’re Off to See the Wizard! It certainly is one of my all time favorites.
Overall Grade- A+
ps. The sequels and prequels have been an absolute embarrassment. Stop people!
