I admit that I am not a huge fan of contemporary Christmas specials. There's just a certain warmth and sense of wonder missing from them - they're more concerned with bringing "hipness" to Christmas than representing a traditional holiday. This one, however, captures the feel of an old-time special while using modern technology. Like Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, it focuses on a couple of misfits - a reindeer trying to make a name for himself as a toy inventor and a boy who can't make friends because his family is constantly moving. They meet and bond when the reindeer takes off in pursuit of a stolen snow globe (which contains children's wishes for Santa). What follows is an adventure filled with high-tech hijinks (there is a memorable bit involving Christmas ornament-shaped robots) and holiday warmth - the reindeer encourages the boy to pursue both his love interest and his hobby of ventriloquism. The ultimate message is that there's nothing wrong with being "weird," and that we all have something to offer. I usually flip the channel when I see a contemporary special come on, but this is one I will make an effort to rewatch every holiday season. Not perfect (it sometimes feels like they tried to cram too much plot and too many characters into the one-hour time frame , but still a worthy successor to Rakin-Bass!
Reviews
20 Reviews
We Are X
(2016)
More Like I Am Yoshiki, But Compelling Nonetheless
30 April 2023
Warning: Spoilers
Yoshiki sounds, on the surface, like a show business cliche - a man with enough power to have David Lynch direct his videos, enough influence to be commissioned to write a symphony for the Emperor of Japan, enough wealth to own a car straight outta Back to the Future . . . And yet, he lives with constant physical and emotional pain, haunted by his father's suicide and a litany of health issues that have dogged him since childhood. This film takes a microscope to his life and times and delves beneath the music-industry-soap-opera surface to deliver a portrait of the Godfather of Visual Kei, warts and all.
The title of the film is misleading - there isn't much about Yoshiki's X Japan bandmates, and that's a shame. Their late guitarist hide, the object of a Syd Barrett-like cult following, deserves his own companion documentary. But taken as the portrait of one very influential man, it's compelling stuff. Yoshiki allowed the cameras to follow him through some private moments - like visiting the graves of his father and late bandmates, and seeing a doctor about the chronic pains in his arms (trigger warning, there's some painful-looking injections involved). One of the most touching scenes is a reunion with his childhood friend and former bandmate, who quit the group to join a religious cult (you can't make this stuff up, folks) and is returning to the fold.
There's a couple of things I wish had been touched on more - like the question of whether racism kept X Japan from achieving international fame. But the filmmakers did a more than decent job. Special kudos for the eye-popping title sequences, which really manage to capture the spirit of visual kei.
The title of the film is misleading - there isn't much about Yoshiki's X Japan bandmates, and that's a shame. Their late guitarist hide, the object of a Syd Barrett-like cult following, deserves his own companion documentary. But taken as the portrait of one very influential man, it's compelling stuff. Yoshiki allowed the cameras to follow him through some private moments - like visiting the graves of his father and late bandmates, and seeing a doctor about the chronic pains in his arms (trigger warning, there's some painful-looking injections involved). One of the most touching scenes is a reunion with his childhood friend and former bandmate, who quit the group to join a religious cult (you can't make this stuff up, folks) and is returning to the fold.
There's a couple of things I wish had been touched on more - like the question of whether racism kept X Japan from achieving international fame. But the filmmakers did a more than decent job. Special kudos for the eye-popping title sequences, which really manage to capture the spirit of visual kei.
Titanic
(1997)
The Closest Modern Cinema Ever Came to the Ham and Cheese Epics of the '50s
7 January 2022
Back in the '50s, Hollywood was terrified of losing its audience to television - so they made their movies big, bigger, biggest. Epic length, epic effects, epic costumes, epic hairstyles. Sure, the scripts had more cheese than a quesadilla, but who cared? Look at that massive crowd of extras! Look at all those horses! Look at all those extras RIDING horses!
Fast-forward to the late '90s, where James Cameron brought back the big, bigger, biggest epic in the form of this movie. HUGE ship! HUGE disaster! HUGE cast of extras! HUGELY corny romantic plot! And did we eat this all up? Oh, HELLZ, yeah. Rather than warmed-over leftovers, Cameron made the over-the-top epic feel like a fresh dish.
One big difference between this film and old-school epics: the quality of the acting. Rather than fill it with scenery-chewers, Cameron built his film around a pair of genuinely talented and appealing performers, Kate Winslet and Leonardo diCaprio. They managed to sell the creaky Romeo-and-Juliet-at-sea premise with genuine warmth and sincerity, and you found yourself rooting for them even as they were spouting dialogue that sounded like bumper stickers.
The visuals are, of course, an absolute feast - we revel in the glory of the ship in the first two-thirds and in its destruction at the end. There's lush shots of luxurious dining halls and boisterous dancing peasants, of dolphins poking up through the water and vistas of Edwardian outfits at a church service - giving way to floods, destruction and terror. It's A LOT, and you gladly drink in it all.
We hadn't seen an epic like this in years, and given the move toward streaming, we may never see one like it again. Enjoy this tribute to a bygone era, made in another bygone era.
Fast-forward to the late '90s, where James Cameron brought back the big, bigger, biggest epic in the form of this movie. HUGE ship! HUGE disaster! HUGE cast of extras! HUGELY corny romantic plot! And did we eat this all up? Oh, HELLZ, yeah. Rather than warmed-over leftovers, Cameron made the over-the-top epic feel like a fresh dish.
One big difference between this film and old-school epics: the quality of the acting. Rather than fill it with scenery-chewers, Cameron built his film around a pair of genuinely talented and appealing performers, Kate Winslet and Leonardo diCaprio. They managed to sell the creaky Romeo-and-Juliet-at-sea premise with genuine warmth and sincerity, and you found yourself rooting for them even as they were spouting dialogue that sounded like bumper stickers.
The visuals are, of course, an absolute feast - we revel in the glory of the ship in the first two-thirds and in its destruction at the end. There's lush shots of luxurious dining halls and boisterous dancing peasants, of dolphins poking up through the water and vistas of Edwardian outfits at a church service - giving way to floods, destruction and terror. It's A LOT, and you gladly drink in it all.
We hadn't seen an epic like this in years, and given the move toward streaming, we may never see one like it again. Enjoy this tribute to a bygone era, made in another bygone era.
Toxic Masculinity Will Kill Us All
5 January 2022
The Soviet Union may have faded into history, but Kubrick's razor-sharp satire is as relevant as ever - because its core message is still with us. The imagery and dialogue of this film drives home again and again that the reason nuclear weapons exist is that men are compensating for something. The damn film opens with a place refueling scene staged to look like coitus. The mad general who starts the war basically does so because of his own impotence. The most famous shot is a cowboy straddling a nuclear bomb like he's wielding an oversized phallus. Character names either sound like fantasies of hyper-masculinity (Buck Turgidson) or fear of a total lack thereof (Merkin Muffley, two words referencing female genitalia). The only woman seen briefly in the film is an over-the-top male fantasy, wriggling in a bikini and panting for a man's services. In short, this is toxic masculinity on parade - and the end result is the annihilation of humanity. We laugh and are aghast at the same time.
The Iron Curtain is gone, but toxic masculinity is still with us - it just takes the form of mass shootings instead of nuclear war. In a way, it's now more dangerous than ever. Kubrick had no idea how timeless his film's ultimate message was.
The philosophy aside, the film deserves its classic status from the performances alone. Peter Sellers is jaw-dropping in his three roles - you would never know it was him in all of them (he plays an American better than most Americans!) unless you were told. Slim Pickens was never told he was filming a dark comedy, but he's still amusing as hell as the yeehaw flight commander eager to go "toe-to-toe with the Ruskies!" And George C. Scott is the perfect parody of macho military swagger and Cold War paranoia - he comes across simultaneously as the kind of figure we've seen all too often in the news and your cigar-chomping uncle who's spent a bit too much time watching Fox News.
The Iron Curtain is gone, but toxic masculinity is still with us - it just takes the form of mass shootings instead of nuclear war. In a way, it's now more dangerous than ever. Kubrick had no idea how timeless his film's ultimate message was.
The philosophy aside, the film deserves its classic status from the performances alone. Peter Sellers is jaw-dropping in his three roles - you would never know it was him in all of them (he plays an American better than most Americans!) unless you were told. Slim Pickens was never told he was filming a dark comedy, but he's still amusing as hell as the yeehaw flight commander eager to go "toe-to-toe with the Ruskies!" And George C. Scott is the perfect parody of macho military swagger and Cold War paranoia - he comes across simultaneously as the kind of figure we've seen all too often in the news and your cigar-chomping uncle who's spent a bit too much time watching Fox News.
The Ten Commandments
(1956)
These Performers Are The Ultimate Easter Hams!
5 April 2021
Okay, so this is a massive pile of ham and cheese. The acting is from the William Shatner school of over-the-top. The dialogue is ridiculously bombastic - every line meant to be casual conversation sounds like the climax of somebody's campaign speech. The special effects are full of REALLY obvious rear projections. The narrator scolds the participants in the Golden Calf revel for being HORRIBLE SINNERS - while the camera lovingly captures every bit of their sin. And yet, I watch the damn thing on TV every single year - because it's FUN. Its very silliness makes it endearing. It would make for a great evening of Mystery Science Theater 3000-type riffing with like-minded friends - there is PLENTY here to have fun with. (Every year seems to provide more riffing opportunities - how much humor is there in the fact that a woman who gives a big, windy speech about how she is free of makeup and moisturizers is named SEPHORA?) They would definitely never be able to make this movie today - Biblical epics have gone the way of Sunday school for kids, and this style of acting would be laughed off the screen. But I'm glad the '50s coughed this up, in all its bloated, gaudy glory. It's as much a part of my Easter as Cadbury Creme Eggs.
Does For The Beatles What The Star Wars Holiday Special Did For, Well, Star Wars
25 January 2021
This film is an artifact from the Age of Cheese. Nobody who didn't grow up in the '70s can know that TV during the period was littered with "variety shows" - collections of bad cover songs, comedy sketches, and over-the-top costumes. The hosts were usually a middle of the road musical act, like Donny and Marie or the Captain and Tennille. The guests were a collection of actors, singers and comics. Everyone involved was expected to sing, dance and do comedy - regardless of specialty. You can imagine how painful - but inexplicably popular - the results were. This formula was cloned for the two most disgraceful desecrations of pop culture legends in history - The Star Wars Holiday Special and this film. In both cases, a group of random performers were crammed into a classic format, whether or not they belonged there. This is the rock and roll equivalent of a variety show. Everyone from George Burns to The Bee Gees to Steve Martin are given Beatles songs to sing, stretched over a wire-thin plot. The results are uneven as hell. The Earth Wind and Fire and Aerosmith segments justify the film getting an extra star from me. The songs they were given were perfect matches, and they put their own stamp on them. The rest? Mostly glitter and oh-my-God-am-I-really-watching-this? In short, just like the variety shows of old. This is definitely a relic of its time - and it should stay there. (By the way, the one time the variety show formula WORKED was The Muppet Show. Perhaps they should have made a Beatles musical performed by Muppets).
The Jungle Book
(1967)
Not an Epic, But Iconic Nonetheless
24 January 2021
In recent years, Disney has become associated with epic-scale storytelling with films like Frozen and The Lion King - big stories, big scenery, big songs. This film - the last Walt Disney personally supervised - is much more small-scale. It has a simple plot - a panther attempts to return a boy raised by wolves to his own kind before he draws the attention of a human-hating tiger. And yet, that thin premise becomes a clothesline from which to hang some utterly delightful characters - a stuffy elephant General, a scat-singing monkey king, a hypnotic snake, and the aforementioned tiger, who is clearly the template for the later villain Scar. And then, there's the heart of the film - the laid-back, hippie/beatnik bear Baloo and the uptight panther Bagheera. Their Odd Couple chemistry drives the film and provides plenty of laughs. No grand premise? No problem! Sure, there's some peripheral details that seem a tad dated - like the Beatle haircuts on the vultures and some of Baloo's hipster lingo - but that won't stop today's kids from enjoying the film. If this was a part of your childhood, you'll take great pleasure in revisiting it - and sharing it with the next generation.
Ratatouille
(2007)
Worthy Of All The Pandemic Hype
16 January 2021
During the Covid pandemic, this movie received renewed attention as social media dwellers decided to construct an online musical around it. It's not every movie that can spark this kind of revival a decade and a half after its release - but Ratatouille is definitely not any movie. The tale of a little rat with big dreams of becoming a chef is as heartwarming, funny and touching as the day it was released. More impressively, the computer animation still looks beautiful and stunning - no small feat, considering the constant evolution of animation technology. The film's message - "Not everyone can be a great artist, but a great artist can come from anywhere" - is profoundly inspirational and has lost none of its punch. Enjoy - and not just for the nostalgia value or pandemic hype. (Also, if you're watching on Disney Plus, don't skip the accompanying short, Your Friend the Rat - it's funny, charming and even educational.)
The Great British Baking Show
(2010– )
An Oasis of Gentility in a World Gone Mad
12 January 2021
This show is the perfect antidote to the madness that's constantly on the news nowadays. Whenever the real world gets me stressed, I put this on Netflix. I've fallen asleep watching it more times than I can count - not because it's boring, but because it's the TV equivalent of a warm bubble bath.
An awful lot of pixels have been spilled about the show's "niceness" - but that's because it's entirely accurate. Sure, it's a contest, but you never see people get nasty and cutthroat with each other. There's no trash talking, nobody says they're not here to make friends. You get a real sense that the bakers support each other, and the judges and hosts are genuinely pleased with their successes. It's a warm, non-threatening atmosphere.
And speaking of the judges, they are straightforward and honest when it comes to failures - this is the show that made the term "soggy bottom" famous, after all - but they're never mean about it. Mary Berry, who co-judged the first few seasons, especially made a point of countering every negative comment with a positive one - like, "The crust is underbaked - but you have a marvelous balance of flavors in the filling."
Apparently, this show's popularity shows no signs of waning - which is good, because we NEED it right now. Long may they bake!
Grease
(1978)
The Favorite Musical of 70s/80s Theater Kids Still Holds Up
10 January 2021
When I was in high school in the early '80s, I was a "theater kid" - participated in high school plays and voraciously watched musicals on TV (cable was a novelty then). And back then, every theater kid loved the hell out of Grease. We all saw it multiple times in the theater, wore out the soundtrack, then watched it over and over on HBO until we could recite the dialogue by heart. So what if the "teenagers" in the film were almost old enough to be our parents and the portrayal of '50s gang warfare was more than a little sanitized? It was a candy-colored carnival with great songs well sung, fabulous dancing and eye-catching costumes - Olivia Newton-John's costume in the finale launched a fad for Candies, backless wooden spike heels with leather straps.
Caught the film recently, many years removed from my theater kid days - and found that, surprisingly, it had lost little of its charm. The songs sounded as good as ever, the dialogue was just as snappy, and the film's mashup of '50s and '70s pop culture gave it an odd sheen of timelessness. Plus, as an adult, I could better appreciate Danny Zuko's crisis of identity - trying at once to please his straitlaced girlfriend and his car jockey friends. We've all been there. So if you were a fan back in the day, give it another spin. Heck, you may even want to show it to your theater kid offspring.
The Lego Star Wars Holiday Special
(2020 TV Movie)
Best Thing From The Sequel Trilogy Since The Force Awakens
2 January 2021
The Lego Star Wars Holiday Special just serves to remind you of how much potential the characters and story of The Force Awakens had, and how much the subsequent two films dropped the ball. The whole thing is based on a premise introduced in the first film and abandoned afterward - Finn being a potential Jedi. Rey's frustrations at being unable to train him and need to find out what she's doing wrong set her off on a time-traveling journey that takes her from The Phantom Menace to The Mandalorian. The result is an affectionate parody of all eras of Star Wars that still has genuine heart - it feels like Rankin-Bass were hired to do one of Family Guy's Star Wars episodes. We have two Darth Vaders from different timelines fighting each other, Palpatine acting like everyone's cranky boss, two different Han Solos looking to shoot Greedo first, and even an appearance by Chewie's family from the original Star Wars Holiday Special. The writers even skewer fan pet peeves ranging from the Trade Federation to Kylo Ren's shirtlessness. And Rose Tico gets redeemed - she even gets to sing a hilarious karaoke duet with Finn! This is pure entertainment no fan of Star Wars should pass by. Makes you wish the Lego crew had been put in charge of the entire sequel trilogy.
Oh, God!
(1977)
Gem From The Past Is Still Relevant Today
24 December 2020
Caught this film on the Movies cable channel after not having seen it in many a year, and I was amazed at how well it holds up. This film, filled with warmth and gentle humor, stars George Burns as the kind of Almighty I think we'd all like to have in charge - he lets his creations do their own thing, but when things get out of hand, he gets concerned. Not wrathful, concerned. And then, it's time to find a messenger to spread his wisdom. In character with a God who in the distant past favored shepherds and carpenters over kings, he chooses an Everyman to do the job - an assistant supermarket manager winningly played by John Denver (it's amazing that this was his only major acting role). What makes the film click today is that the issues that alarmed Burns' God - environmental devastation, crime, supposedly holier-than-thou people in positions of power who are cesspools of corruption - are still very much in our world today. We still need the messages dispensed by this God - be kind to each other and take care of the Earth, and things will work out. It should be noted, by the way, that the philosophies of the film's Almighty are the core tenets of all faiths without favoring one over the others. Indeed, the movie does an excellent job of avoiding offending any particular religious group - watch how cleverly the script handles God's answers to the "tough" questions posed by a group of theologians, especially the one about the parentage of Jesus. So even though it's a relic of the'70s that is sadly little seen today, it's definitely worth a watch if it comes on TV. You'll get caught up in its warm, fuzzy spirit - and maybe think about life a little. (By the way, there's another project Denver did around the same time that seems to be sadly lost to the ages - his holiday special with the Muppets, A Christmas Together. Hey Disney Plus, how about digging that one out of the archives?)
Horror of Dracula
(1958)
The Essence of Halloween
20 October 2020
Everyone has that one spooky movie that they need to watch every October or it just isn't Halloween. This one is mine. It's everything about the Halloween spirit distilled into a 90 -minute film - Gothic atmosphere, flashing fangs, gargoyles, terrified villagers hanging up garlic, and heaving-bosomed women awaiting the forbidden embrace of the Count. Plus, there's Christopher Lee as the most badass vampire of all time - tall, imposing, menacing, but also elegant and charming. (Kudos also go to Peter Cushing as the Count's nemesis, Van Helsing, who brings a real human and caring element to his crucifix-flasher.) The film is chilling enough to create a proper horror atmosphere, yet mild enough so that genre cowards can enjoy it, too. So when the leaves start falling, grab your Pumpkin Spice products of choice and treat yourself to some Hammer Time!
Bohemian Rhapsody
(2018)
A biopic that actually LIKES its subject
31 January 2019
Warning: Spoilers
Plenty has been said about this very special film already, so I'll just focus on what I think makes it truly unique. Most showbiz biopics very obviously hold their subject in contempt. There's a lot of dwelling on the negatives in the person's life - a lot of scenes of sex-drugs-rock and roll, temper tantrums, diva moments, etc. The film is usually saying, "Yes, this person accomplished great things, but he/she was an ABSOLUTE RAT! Don't you feel superior to him/her?" Not this film. It doesn't shy away from the darker aspects of Freddie Mercury's life, but it doesn't wallow in them, either. Instead, it focuses on the positives - the way iconic songs were created, the friendships between the band members - and there's a healthy dose of humor. (Ben Hardy, who's the focus of the funniest scenes, is the unsung hero of this film. Rami Malek may be the captain of this ship, but Hardy is definitely the first mate). Remarkably for a film set in the music industry of the '70s and '80s, there isn't a single shot of a person doing a rail of coke. A whitewash? Maybe. But you get the impression that the filmmakers were saying, "That's not what was important. This guy's personality and his relationships with the people closest to him? THAT is important." You leave the theater feeling positive and uplifted - because even though it ends on a sad note (Freddie's AIDS diagnosis), it goes out with warmth - his reconciliation with his parents and his legendary Live Aid performance. You end up thinking that Freddie might have had his issues, but in the end? He was an okay guy. And his bandmates? They were okay guys, too. Combine that positivity with the acting quality, the sharp writing and Queen's incredible music and you have an unbeatable package. No wonder people see this over and over - I plan to as well.
The Grinch
(2018)
A Pleasant Surprise
27 November 2018
I admit I was deeply cynical going into this one. I have a deep love for Chuck Jones' original cartoon (I can just about recite the narration by heart) and the memory of Jim Carrey's disastrous version was still fresh in my mind. Also, as much as I adore the Minions, there was the fear that Illumination would overload it with burp and fart jokes and "over-hip-ify" the material.
Imagine my surprise when the finished product turned out to be a delight. It may not follow Seuss' text to the letter, but it's definitely in the spirit of the original. It delivers a believable story about a loner grouch who's gradually driven to rage by the relentless cheeriness around him until he snaps and commits the ultimate act of grand larceny. The parallel storyline about Cindy Lou Who and her quest to talk to Santa in person had a modern feel without seemingly self-consciously hip (she and her friends were reminiscent of Gru's girls in the Despicable Me films). And, yes, there was a bit of crude humor, but it didn't distract from the overall storyline.
Most impressively of all, they managed to give the Grinch a believable motive for his attitude without hammering you over the head with it, adding poignancy to the ending. (This is something that could have gone horribly wrong if handled badly - see the Johnny Depp Willy Wonka). The result was a more, well, human Grinch. (It's also notable that this incarnation is a lot kinder to his long-suffering dog, Max, than previous ones).
Plus, Illumination went all out with the visuals for this. Whoville is a Christmas wonderland. Mount Crumpit is appropriately bleak (but still with a touch of Seuss-like whimsy), and characters look like 3-D versions of Seuss' creations while also working as modern CGI creations.
Overall, the Jones version is the gold standard of the Grinch, but this is a worthy modern take. There's something here for all ages to enjoy.
Imagine my surprise when the finished product turned out to be a delight. It may not follow Seuss' text to the letter, but it's definitely in the spirit of the original. It delivers a believable story about a loner grouch who's gradually driven to rage by the relentless cheeriness around him until he snaps and commits the ultimate act of grand larceny. The parallel storyline about Cindy Lou Who and her quest to talk to Santa in person had a modern feel without seemingly self-consciously hip (she and her friends were reminiscent of Gru's girls in the Despicable Me films). And, yes, there was a bit of crude humor, but it didn't distract from the overall storyline.
Most impressively of all, they managed to give the Grinch a believable motive for his attitude without hammering you over the head with it, adding poignancy to the ending. (This is something that could have gone horribly wrong if handled badly - see the Johnny Depp Willy Wonka). The result was a more, well, human Grinch. (It's also notable that this incarnation is a lot kinder to his long-suffering dog, Max, than previous ones).
Plus, Illumination went all out with the visuals for this. Whoville is a Christmas wonderland. Mount Crumpit is appropriately bleak (but still with a touch of Seuss-like whimsy), and characters look like 3-D versions of Seuss' creations while also working as modern CGI creations.
Overall, the Jones version is the gold standard of the Grinch, but this is a worthy modern take. There's something here for all ages to enjoy.
Beauty and the Beast
(1991)
More relevant now than ever, in a way
23 July 2018
Beauty and the Beast is a gorgeous and enchanting fairy tale, to be sure, but Disney packed a lot of subtle social commentary on small town small mindedness in there. The people in the village Belle lives in dismiss her as "odd" for being an intelligent and bookish woman, fear the Beast because of his appearance, and worship the loutish Gaston, the very epitome of a musclebound meathead - and toxic masculinity.
The latter character, who seemed like a thinking woman's worst nightmare when the film first came out, is now even more creepy, because his continual harassment of Belle reeks of Me Too. This makes him a hundred times more horrifying than more traditional Disney villains like Ursula or Malificent. Evil witches are only in fiction. Gaston clones are everywhere.
Ultimately, the film's message is the triumph of open minds over closed ones, and that even society's so-called rejects can hold their heads high and triumph in the end. I can't imagine a more positive message to convey to kids.
The latter character, who seemed like a thinking woman's worst nightmare when the film first came out, is now even more creepy, because his continual harassment of Belle reeks of Me Too. This makes him a hundred times more horrifying than more traditional Disney villains like Ursula or Malificent. Evil witches are only in fiction. Gaston clones are everywhere.
Ultimately, the film's message is the triumph of open minds over closed ones, and that even society's so-called rejects can hold their heads high and triumph in the end. I can't imagine a more positive message to convey to kids.
Solo: A Star Wars Story
(2018)
Should Have Been About Lando Instead
27 June 2018
By far, the best thing about this movie is Donald Glover as Lando. He's outstanding - charming and charismatic whether he's gambling against Han or bantering with his femme-droid co-pilot. The rest of the film is an average Star Wars film - not as good as the original trilogy, not as bad as the prequels. The main problem is it's hard to believe that this Han grew up to be Harrison Ford's classic character. He's too, well, boyish, despite his cocky swagger. There's some fun set pieces here, to be sure, especially the aforementioned card game, the train heist and the Kessel run - for those scenes, and Lando, I'm giving it as high a rating as I am. The worst thing about this film's flopping is we will never get a chance to see how awesome "Lando, A Star Wars Story" would have been.
The Girl in Lovers Lane
(1960)
Better Than Average Bot Fodder
16 June 2018
For years, when MST3K fans have been polled about which riffed films were "not completely terrible," this movie has come up (along with the Godzilla and Gamera movies). It's easy to see why - unlike complete train wrecks like Space Mutiny and Manos the Hands Of Fate, you can tell that this could have been a halfway decent film if it had a little more of a budget - better sets, better costumes, a competent script editor to fix the problematic ending. The acting isn't terrible, some of the characters are actually likable, and Jack Elam's villain is genuinely creepy. It made for a very underrated MST3K episode - one of the funniest of the later Joel era. (The show's writers reported being genuinely traumatized by the film's ending - and you just KNOW that it was a rare film that could get that crew to genuinely care about the characters).
Black Panther
(2018)
A Girl Power Movie Masquerading As A Male Superhero Film!
30 May 2018
It may be named after its male lead, but don't let that fool you - this is the most girl-power film since, well, Wonder Woman. Full of smart, strong ladies who kick major butt, this film is more feminist than most movies aimed at women! Not to mention the almost Shakespearean royal power struggle at the center of the plot, the well-thought-out worldbuilding that draws respectfully on African culture, the super-cool tech, the humor, the fact that all the major characters are more well-rounded than in most superhero films . . . This is one case where you can believe the hype! It's a pure entertainment package that delivers on every level.
Loving Vincent
(2017)
A Visual Feast Like None Other
26 October 2017
Warning: Spoilers
If you've ever had the privilege to see a Van Gogh up close, you know that the painting always seems to be in a state of kinetic motion, with its vibrant colors and furious brushstrokes. Loving Vincent takes that motion to the next logical step - it literally animates the paintings. A team of artists copied Van Gogh's works precisely - color for color, stroke for stroke - and then set them in motion, using them as the basis for a detective story of sorts tracing the last days of the painter's life.
Watching this film, your eyes are dazzled over and over. You keep thinking, "Haven't I seen this painting somewhere before?" - and then, when you see the closing credits (which display the animators' reference materials), you realize that you have. Every character in this film is based on a person in Van Gogh's art, every backdrop is drawn from his landscapes. It took a lot of imagination to put all those parts together and make it a whole. (You're going to want to see this on a real theater screen if the opportunity presents itself. I'm not sure if the depth of the details will be conveyed in smartphone or tablet viewing).
Other reviewers have pointed out that the story is the film's weakest point, and I will agree with that - I've knocked off a star for that reason. But, really, the story is not what you're going to be coming to this film for. With visuals this sumptuous, you don't really need an Oscar-quality script.
I will say one thing about the story, though - kudos to the filmmakers for getting The Ear out of the way early on in the plot. You know going into a film about Van Gogh that it's going to be dealt with, you sit there half-cringing waiting for the moment . . . and the filmmakers made it one of the first flashback sequences. "Okay, you all know it's coming, here it is. Now you can put that aside and focus on the rest of our film."
It's not a film for everyone, but those who enjoy art should make a point of seeing this - and for admirers of Van Gogh, it's essential.
(I'd love to see the Academy throw this film some love in the Best Animated Feature division, by the way - but you just know they're going to give the ultimate prize to the Big Disney Film Of The Year).
Watching this film, your eyes are dazzled over and over. You keep thinking, "Haven't I seen this painting somewhere before?" - and then, when you see the closing credits (which display the animators' reference materials), you realize that you have. Every character in this film is based on a person in Van Gogh's art, every backdrop is drawn from his landscapes. It took a lot of imagination to put all those parts together and make it a whole. (You're going to want to see this on a real theater screen if the opportunity presents itself. I'm not sure if the depth of the details will be conveyed in smartphone or tablet viewing).
Other reviewers have pointed out that the story is the film's weakest point, and I will agree with that - I've knocked off a star for that reason. But, really, the story is not what you're going to be coming to this film for. With visuals this sumptuous, you don't really need an Oscar-quality script.
I will say one thing about the story, though - kudos to the filmmakers for getting The Ear out of the way early on in the plot. You know going into a film about Van Gogh that it's going to be dealt with, you sit there half-cringing waiting for the moment . . . and the filmmakers made it one of the first flashback sequences. "Okay, you all know it's coming, here it is. Now you can put that aside and focus on the rest of our film."
It's not a film for everyone, but those who enjoy art should make a point of seeing this - and for admirers of Van Gogh, it's essential.
(I'd love to see the Academy throw this film some love in the Best Animated Feature division, by the way - but you just know they're going to give the ultimate prize to the Big Disney Film Of The Year).
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