The Little Mermaid

When this movie was released in the late 1980s, it was a real delight; because it was proof that the animated feature film was still alive and well. The movie is the Little Mermaid, a beautifully drawn story about a mermaid named Ariel who wants to become human and marry the prince of her dreams.

Objecting to his daughter’s desires to turn human is King Triton, who manages to crack the crab, Sebastian for information about his daughter. The source of evil in this film is the magnificently drawn sea witch, Ursula; who persuades Ariel to make a deal to become human for a while and engage the prince, but only at the price of losing her voice to the evil Ursula.

This whole film is a delight. I have nothing but compliments for the Little Mermaid. The art work is rich and colorful, especially with all those underwater scenes. When I see all those bubbles, I’m glad they took the time and money to animate every individual bubble.

The tightly told story is credited to directors Ron Clements and John Musker. Animated film directors usually don’t get noticed until they’re either retired or dead. Let’s start giving the credit a little early this time.

The film is chockfull of good songs that carry the movie forward, and they’re fun to listen to. The music in this movie is fantastically superior than most modern musicals. The music brings back memories of great Hollywood musicals like Singing in the Rain, Me and My Gal or other Walt Disney classics like the Jungle Book. A lot of the time, the music in modern animated musicals sounds like MUSAK with words; but the music in this film is terrific, especially that calypso number, Under the Sea; which is sung by a cast of sea creatures, and fronted by Sebastian the crab who thinks that life under the sea is just fine. In fact, Under the Sea is the best number of the film and recalls some of the great Disney music of the past like When You Wish Upon a Star and Zip-A-Dee-Do-Da.

I also think that this movie created a classic animated character with Sebastian the crab, similar to Jiminy Cricket. And Ursula the witch is right up there with some of the great villains of the past. Name any classic Disney villain, from the wicked step-mother to Captain Hook, and Ursula is in that category.

Best of all (this is my favorite part); this is a film for people of all ages. Young children will beyond a doubt love this movie; and it is witty witty witty for the adults.

I enjoyed this movie from beginning to end. I enjoyed everything about it, including the music.

This movie bares comparison to some of the great Disney Classics. This really is a contemporary animated film which is as good as those great films from 40, 50, and 60 years ago. Little Mermaid is a return to the great tradition of animated feature films.

The Little Mermaid is a very good film.

[Via http://mustseeornot.wordpress.com]

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo - A Film Review

In Swedish, the film is known as Men Who Hate Women. In English, the title refers to the work’s unconventional female protagonist. In reality, though, it is just a predictable bore peppered with some surprisingly nasty moments. Indeed, as with the conspiracy genre that was bemoaned here some weeks ago, it has become very hard to find good and original detective dramas anymore. Such works have always been heavily character-driven. However, a skinny Goth who combines a photographic memory with deep-rooted mental traumas and who has become obsessed with a paunchy middle-aged journalist is either someone’s private fantasy come to life or a test of where the boundary now lies between plausibility and parody. In any event, is there not already an American police show that features a very bright Goth who sleeps in a coffin?

Anyway, the weird and the wacky aside, this adaptation of Stieg Larsson’s novel of the same name is based around two central plotlines. The first is the privately commissioned investigation by journalist Mikael Blomkvist (Michael Nyqvist) into the mysterious disappearance of the niece of a wealthy industrialist (Sven-Bertil Taube) forty years previously. The second is that Blomkvist has become the subject of some obsessive cyber-snooping by our aforementioned skinny Goth, Lisbeth Salander (Noomi Rapace). Sullen and misanthropic, she appears to have more piercings than personality. On the one hand, this makes her decidedly vulnerable to various malevolent characters that pop up. On the other hand, she does make for an intriguing, albeit unlikely, guardian angel for Blomkvist.

However, what starts out as a dark, brooding, and multi-stranded tale from director Niels Arden Oplev soon turns into a much more straightforward sleuths-following-clues drama with enough bangs and wallops along the way to make sure that no one has entirely dozed off in the audience. The mystery itself concentrates on a secretive and feud-ridden family who have nothing to do with their time except be rich and nasty. Moreover, the case is so cold by the time that Blomkvist picks it up, and the related characters so under-developed, that frankly you are more likely to be interested in which of them flosses at night than in which of them did what dastardly deed to the other and when.

Worse, this is seemingly the first in a trilogy of such films. As such, it probably explains why there were so many loose ends and orphaned references in the script. On the other hand, a less generous opinion of the film would be that it has simply been disappointingly scripted and edited. Moreover, there is something terribly superficial about both of the central characters. Therefore, whilst the wonderfully-transformed Ms. Rapace is agreeably volatile in her depiction of her moody character and Mr. Nyqvist plays the dull but amiable Blomkvist in a credible enough manner, the thought of sitting through any more of their adventures together is enough to make spending a bitter Swedish winter alone in an isolated and draughty cabin seem like the far more enthralling prospect.

[Via http://noordinaryfool.com]

Celebrating Asian American Cinema (2)

Toyota proudly supports Asian American Cinema across the country. Visit www.thedirectorschairsite.com to see photos, reviews, buzz and upcoming events. On Oct 15-29, Toyota is the official vehicle sponsor of the 10th Annual San Diego Asian Film Festival (SDAFF ‘09). With more than 200 films from 20 countries, parties, celebrities, and a live hip hop showcase featuring Lyrics Born, the San Diego Asian Film Festival is the place to be. Text “SDAFF” to 53137 to be a Festival Insider.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TsaeTMPN39s&hl=en

[Via http://alltoyotareviews.wordpress.com]

Brooklyn's Finest

This Is Decidedly Not It

Good God. If you’ve Never, Ever seen another movie, this movie might have a shot at impressing you. That’s about all the hope this dog of a film has got going for it because this thing is terrible. I grumble about films like ‘Revolutionary Road’ and ‘The Hurt Locker’ but this thing is a travesty.

What’s Good About It

Uuh… Not much. It has Don Cheadle and Wesley Snipes in it. Which already makes it a kind of a parody rather than anything tangibly held to ‘realism’. None of the cast ever look like they inhabit the world they’re portraying. Ethan Hawke was rehashing his ‘Training Day’ looks and Richard Gere was sort of re-running his pained look from ‘The Flock’. God knows what the rest of them thought they were doing.

At one point as we were watching and anti-cineaste Rob Morgan said, “oh look, the background in that shot is beautiful.” – If a film making novice is noticing  stuff like that, you get the idea how disengaging this film is.

So what is good about it? You don’t know what’s going on so it makes you keep watching in the hope that you find out. Then you’re bitterly disappointed.

What’s Bad About It

Where do you start with a pile of dog shit this high?

The whole film is like 17 cliche setups in search of a story. We’ve seen ALL of these elements before – some, in the case of Richard Gere, he only did it last year when he played another dude days from retirement, rescuing people from abuse. Ethan Hawke’s cop struggling with money, playing poker with his cop buddies is like a bad re-make of Stallone’s ‘Copland’, and Don Cheadle’s undercover storyline is like a bad rendition of ‘Donnie Brasco’ except in a black neighbourhood, drug gang setting. By the time Ellen Barkin graces the screen, you’re grimacing going, “what? this is Basher and the Cougar from “Ocean’s 13!”

So many good actors cast so badly to play such boring, ordinary roles. It’s a travesty this thing got made. Really, it’s that bad.

Whatever they were aiming for, it wasn’t working because everybody in it was carrying too much luggage from their previous body of work, none of them were particularly likeable and there’s no real unifying story. It’s like ‘Babel’-In-Brooklyn. Or just more plain babble. It has nothing to say about human nature or existence or love or hate or ambition or betrayal or any of that, even though it talks about it and around it. It’s pathetic. You’d think the writer decided to do the “full retard”.

What’s Interesting About It

I rarely say this, but this has nothing interesting about it. Avoid it like the plague. It’s not even “so-bad-it’s-funny-good”. There is nothing redeeming about this picture and it’s all the director’s fault. This is the worst film I’ve seen in a very long time.

Okay, Wesley Snipes with cornrows kinda looked ‘interesting’, but he’s still Wesley Snipes.

[Via http://artneuro.wordpress.com]

Le jeu de la mort?

Il paraît qu’il est passé sur France 2 hier soir. Bruce Lee en prime time sur une chaîne nationale? C’est une bonne chose, même si le choix du film est totalement à côté de la plaque.

Plus sérieusement, j’ai vu quelques minutes de l’émission; coup de bol, je tombe tout de suite sur la partie qui nous intéresse tous: le joueur/cobaye est confronté aux cris du type qui se fait électrocuter (“Aaah, arrêtez, j’abandonne”), aux ordres du présentateur qui lui intime de poursuivre la torture, et enfin aux enjeux financiers (un prix d’un million d’euros si je ne m’abuse).

N’ayant vu qu’un court passage du programme, je m’abstiendrai d’un commentaire plus poussé. Une phrase, prononcée par une des candidates, a cependant retenu mon attention: “Je suis désolée, mais je suis au chômage, il faut que je le fasse.” Signe révélateur d’un malaise social en France? Sans aucun doute.

Question: comment vit-on dans une société où le chômage massif et structurel n’existe pas? Avec une Delorean il suffirait de remonter dans le temps, pour observer la France des années 60-70. Mai 68, le yéyé, les rouflaquettes, les cols pelle à tarte, le maoisme et autres doctrines extrémistes… Ca donne envie, non?

Sinon, on peut prendre un avion et aller aux antipodes sur l’île de Norfolk, en Océanie, qui détient le taux record de 0% de chômage (pour 1345 actifs…). Plus significativement, la Norvège jouit (j’aime pas ce mot, “jouir”, mais faute de mieux, je vais le garder) d’un taux de 2,5%.

Voilà, c’est tout pour ce soir. Prochain article: Le jeu de la mort, le film de/avec Bruce Lee! (la cohérence thématique de ce blog est à son meilleur: TV française, puis chômage, puis film de king fu).

[Via http://moumantai.wordpress.com]

Movie: The Emperor's New Groove

The Emperor’s New Groove, 2000, Disney

The Emperor’s New Groove is a Disney movie, and as such I didn’t exactly have high hopes for accuracy, remembering all too well how badly Indiana Jones went.  However, I was pleasantly surprised with how heavily influenced by the Incas the movie was.  The story itself could have been set anywhere, but the background art was very clearly Inca in style, although to an untrained eye it may not look that way.

The story is about a young Emperor named Cuzco, who gets turned into a llama by his evil advisor.  He must enlist the help of a peasant, Pacha, to get himself turned back into a human and back into the palace.  It’s a cute movie that really doesn’t have a lot to do with Peru other than the background artwork and the setting, but it is funny and a bit different from most other animated Disney movies.  For starters, it’s not a musical.  It is, however, definitely worth watching!

Here is a comparison between artwork from the movie and actual Inca artwork:

[Via http://aliinperu.wordpress.com]

Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you...CAPTAIN AMERICA!

…Kind of.  There has been much contention over who would become the mightiest of all Avengers over the last few months.  Rumors have been swirling that run the gamut from John Krasinski (Jim of The Office) all the way to Channing Tatum (G.I. Joe).  Very little headway has been made and it all has felt like a great, big round-robin of sorts with the casting.  Collider was where I first heard the news today, however, that Chris Evans (The Human Torch in the Fantastic Four franchise) has been offered the role as The First Avenger by Marvel Mouse.  Interestingly, Evans has yet to accept the offer, and may even hesitate to do so.  The agreement locks the actor who will portray Cap down to a three picture deal ON TOP OF an Avengers flick, as well as multiple possible appearances in smaller Marvel vehicles, as well.  This is a fairly overwhelming amount of commitment for a role that has been rumored to only be worth $300,000, initially.  And while the argument that $300,000 is a lot for playing a dress-up IS well-heard on this blogsite, allow me to remind you that Marvel looks to make GANGBUSTERS on this franchise.  This flick, if done right, could easily put up Spider-Man numbers and Marvel is fully aware.  So the concept of being locked down for the next five to ten years of your life for a less than standard sum may not be all that glamourous to Mr. Evans.  (Granted, this writer would actually PAY to play one of his super hero childhood heroes, but I digress).  With Hugo Weaving attached as The Red Skull, I can’t say at all that I’m disappointed with this casting news.  As a matter of fact, I have quite a bit of faith in Evans over the other pile of names that have been slung around over the past month.  This, of course, is because I was taught a lesson after bitching incessantly for months about Heath Ledger being cast as The Joker.  And we all saw how that worked out.

[Via http://alexhluch.wordpress.com]