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Trailer Talk

Feb 9th, 2011
by Dan.
17 comments

Every week CS over at Big Thoughts from a Small Mind does a “Movie Marketing Monday” post. In it he he takes a look at trailers for up and coming films.

This strikes me as a rather good idea as it lets me blabber on about movies without having to re-mortgage my house in order to actually go and see them in the cinema.

So, here are two trailers that currently have my kids very excited. I specify my kids, because to me both movies look bloody terrible.

Yogi Bear

I can’t believe it’s Dan Akroyd doing Yogi’s voice. I mean firstly, what’s the point? His voice is hardly recognisable, and it’s not like he exactly has any star drawing power these days. Surely it would have been a lot more economical for them to employ a random voice actor? It just doesn’t make sense.

Secondly – why the hell did he agree to do it anyway? I mean surely he isn’t desperate for the money. You wrote Ghostbusters and Blues Brothers for gods sake. Why sully yourself on this crap?

Don’t even get me started on Justin Timberlake playing Boo-Boo. I mean… ??

Unfortunately as dreadful as this movie looks I’m probably going to see this over the weekend as Evan is almost incapacitated with excitement about it. Yesterday he even asked me if we could go on holiday to America so we could visit Jellystone Park. I told him we could, provided I got to visit Gotham and Metropolis too.

Gnomeo and Juliet

And if you thought Yogi Bear looked bad – this looks bloody awful.

I mean, truly bloody awful.

Packed to the gills with famous and talented British comedians and actors, but still manages to come across in the trailer like it’s being performed by a village amateur dramatics society.

You know what, I’m probably going to end up watching this too. Remind me why I wanted to be a parent again?

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Incidentally the latest episode of Lee and Dan’s Midnight Movie Club is up today. This week we’re discussing Uncle Buck.

Movie Review: Tangled

Feb 2nd, 2011
by Dan.
18 comments

There are three types of modern quality animation films.

  • Post modern culturally aware almost cynical movies e.g. Shrek
  • Movies aimed as much at adults as they are children e.g. Wall-E
  • Traditional classic storytelling e.g. Princess and The Frog

For all it’s CGI and controversy over distancing itself from the Disney Princess brand, Tangled definitely lands slap bang in the traditional animation camp – and I’m very glad it does too

Tangled is a magnificent example of Disney doing what Disney do best. Proper old fashioned quality kids entertainment. It has goodies and baddies, comedy animal sidekicks, and a cracking pace on a predictable but engaging plot. It even has musical numbers that wouldn’t feel out of place in a west end musical.

Sure, if this were made by Pixar the characters would have probably had more depth and the storyline would have been more nuanced. But that wouldn’t have necessarily made it a better film, certainly not from a child’s perspective anyhow.

Tangled was an uplifting, amusing, and very enjoyable ride from start to finish – and one I highly recommend. The role models were all positive, and the moral message spot on. Not only that but the animation was stunning, with one or two scenes being particularly breathtaking and made me almost wish we’d seen it in 3D (and you won’t find me saying that often).

But what pleases me most about the movie is that it was squarely aimed at it’s audience – kids. The adult audience was engaged by us choosing to tap into our inner child, rather than the movie affecting a forced adult dimension.

I love Pixar, don’t get me wrong – but my kids don’t. They much prefer the more classic Disney films, and there has to be something in that. We saw Tangled last night and Evan and Amy were still talking about it enthusiastically on the way to school this morning. That’s a hearty recommendation in anyone’s book.

The Green Hornet: a mini review

Jan 15th, 2011
by Dan.
13 comments

I’d heard mediocre things about The Green Hornet, but Kerry and I were in the mood for something light and didn’t really fancy watching a man chop his own arm off so we gave it a go.

We were very glad we did. Sure, it’s not Oscar worthy, but it’s a pretty funny popcorn action/comedy which is well worth a watch in my opinion. You do have to indulge in a bit of willing suspension of your disbelief, and the movie certainly wont stand up to anyone who fancies picking holes in it. But I thought it was funny and I ended up caring about the characters and in my book you can’t ask more of a movie than that.

No doubt the Casta La Vista guys will disagree with me, but I don’t care. They and I have a tendency to disagree with me on the more frothy end of the movie spectrum so I shall take no notice.

Mind you, it certainly wasn’t worth paying the extra £78 or whatever to see it in 3D. It added absolutely zero to the experience except to make my eyes go funny on occasion. The only reason we didn’t go 2D was because it wasn’t an option at our local cinema. Surely this bloody stupid 3D bubble has to burst soon?

Movie Review: Megamind

Dec 3rd, 2010
by Dan.
5 comments

As a result of the snow Evan, Amy, and I have spent the last three days locked up together. While this was a bit of an adventure initially, it wasn’t long until we started bouncing off the walls and by last night I was seriously considering introducing both of them to the wonders of chloroform.

However the roads are all pretty clear today so we were able to make a break for it. Amy escaped to school while Evan and I headed to the cinema to watch Megamind.

Every time I go to the pictures I am stunned at how ridiculously expensive it is. It cost a total of £17 for Evan and I to get in. And that doesn’t even include Evan’s popcorn and drink (£4.50 for the kids “deal”). The robbing bastards.

Still, we did get a free bit of cardboard with some holes cut into it.

IMG_0385

It didn’t help of course that we went to see a 3D showing. To be honest this is generally against my principles, but unfortunately there was no convenient 2D screening so we had to pay the premium.

I wouldn’t mind the extra cash if 3D actually added something, but it really doesn’t. Avatar is the only film I’ve ever seen where the gimmick was actually worth paying for – and even then novelty was a big factor in that. I’m becoming less and less convinced that 3D will be the big revolution that the studios and TV manufacturers are desperate it will be.

So maws Megamind any good?

Well, yes it was actually.

I was a little worried going in that it would be a sub-standard version of Pixar’s Invincibles, but aside from the obvious superhero connection it pretty much stands on it’s own. Aside from the similarity to Despicable Me of course, but I’m charitably chalking that up to them being twins rather than clones.

To quote IMDB the plot goes something like this:

After super-villain Megamind (Will Ferrell) kills his good-guy nemesis, Metro Man (Brad Pitt), he becomes bored since there is no one left to fight. He creates a new foe, Titan (Jonah Hill), who, instead of using his powers for good, sets out to destroy the world, positioning Megamind to save the day for the first time in his life.

The story is predictable, but fun, and the movie moves along at a nice pace. Being the geek that I am it was nice to see all the nods to the Superman mythos throughout the movie. I was especially pleased that Metro Man wasn’t lazily rammed into the stupid meathead jock mold. It does look that way initially, however just as Megamind has an epiphany, so does Metro Man – and the film is much more balanced as a result.

The celeb cast do a good job, and I was particularly impressed with Ferrell who manages to turn in a remarkably un-Ferrell like performance.

All in all I think Megamind is probably a couple of notches above Despicable Me, although it wasn’t quite as funny (and despite what the goobers over at Casta La Vista may say about it, Despicable Me WAS funny). Megamind has something a little more intelligent and subtle to say without alienating it’s audience however, and that is often the real benchmark of a good kids film.

But don’t bother going to see it in 3D

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And if all that weren’t enough excitement for one day, my latest post over at the Coalition of Awesomeness is now up. This weeks theme is The First Album You Ever Owned.

Movie Review: Ramona and Beezus (2010)

Nov 3rd, 2010
by Dan.
3 comments

I don’t mind admitting it, but this movie made me cry.

Ramona and Beezus is a film based on a series of books written in the 50′s, 60′s and 70′s by Beverly Cleary. I’m not sure if they were ever as popular over here in the UK as they were in the States, but I certainly have very fond memories of reading them as a child so they must have been stocked in at least a few libraries.

The plot of the movie borrows from various books in the series, and to be honest it shows. Romana and Beezus has more sub plots than Pulp Fiction, and at times felt a little jumbled. However the chaotic nature seemed to complement rather than detract from the movie – reflecting the complexities of life within a family very nicely.

The plot and sub plots meander around the members of the Quimby family All of the stories concern simple and everyday issues, but they combine to make a portrait of a family that is delightful in it’s down to earth warmth.

Throughout the movie special focus was made on the loving and tender relationship between Ramona and her father (wonderfully played by John Corbett – who will always be Chris from Northern Exposure for me).

These scenes were done so well that I’m pretty sure that the memory of them will live on in my consciousness for a long time to come. It may have just caught me at a vulnerable moment, but I really felt the scenes that Ramona and her Dad shared were truly beautiful and I felt the tears prick behind my eyes during many of them.

Anyhow…

Selena Gomez eh? Blimey Charlie!

Actually, along with being one of the most beautiful beings on the planet I also rate Selena Gomez as a really good comedic actor as well. Of all the dross that is on the Disney Channel (and there is a lot of dross) Wizards of Waverley Place is the most tolerable. And much of the credit for that can be laid at Gomez’s feet. However Gomez was far from the star of the film. She performed ably in her supporting role, but top billing definitely goes to eleven year old Joey King who plays Ramona.

It’s a rare child star indeed who is able to take center stage in a film without appearing precocious. But at no point throughout this film did I get the urge to hurl King through a window – and that’s pretty impressive in my book.

Romona and Beezus is much more than a bland and schlocky made for TV kids movie that a casual glance at the movie poster might imply. It is a warm, witty and touching film with very strong performances, especially from it’s young lead. I heartily recommend it to anyone, but especially for those Daddy Daughter Cinema outings.

This review is cross posted over on KidsTelly.com.

A Silent Movie Classic

Aug 20th, 2010
by Dan.
3 comments

Thanks to Jeff, a fellow member of The Coalition of Awesomeness for pointing me in the direction of this one:

Blu-ray review: The Princess and the Frog

Aug 14th, 2010
by Dan.
6 comments

I’ve said it before, but there is too much CGI in modern kids entertainment.

In itself I don’t object to CGI animation. In fact some of the finest films of all time were computer generated – specifically every single film produced by Pixar: Up, Wall-E, Incredibles, Monster’s Inc, Finding Nemo, the Toy Story franchise, etc etc.

But there is an art and beauty to other forms of animation that is at risk of being neglected. Would Wallace and Grommet be as charming if they were made of pixels rather than plasticine? No, they wouldn’t.

Similarly cell animation has gradually been lost from our cinema screens, which is a crying shame. And what’s worse is that it’s becoming increasingly rare on our TV screens too. It’s not on the endangered list quite yet (Look at the magnificent Phineas and Ferb for an example of exceptionally high quality cell animated contemporary kids cartoons).

In 2009 Disney released The Princess and the Frog, their first cell animated movie since 2004′s Home on the Range (a film I still haven’t seen). I imagine that Disney intended it to be a sort of experiment to see if audiences still had a taste for traditional looking animation.

It wasn’t an overwhelming success, but did make a profit once worldwide revenues were taken into account and lead to reports of Disney deciding on a policy of releasing one hand drawn movie every two years. However I’ve seen no talk of any upcoming traditionally animated releases, so we should perhaps take those reports with a pinch of salt.

So is The Princess and the Frog any good? Well yes it is.

Here’s a plot synopsis shamelessly stolen from Wikipedia:

The film’s plot concerns a prince named Naveen from the land of Maldonia, who is transformed into a frog by the evil scheming voodoo magician Dr. Facilier . The frog prince mistakes a girl named Tiana for a princess and has her kiss him to break the spell. The kiss does not break the spell, but instead turns Tiana into a frog as well. Together, the two of them must reach the good voodoo queen of the deepest, darkest part of the Bayou, Mama Odie, while befriending a trumpet-playing alligator Louis and a hopelessly romantic Cajun firefly named Ray along the way.

The Princess and the Frog is set in New Orleans, and sports a suitably jazzy soundtrack by Randy Newman. I’m a big fan of Newman and have a real fondness for both Cajun music and New Orleans style jazz and so, despite my usual distaste for musicals, it managed to get my toe tapping and head nodding throughout many of the numbers. Additionally Prince Naveen played a pretty mean ukulele throughout the film, and as we all know there is nothing that can’t be improved with a good bit of uke.

Still from The Princess and the Frog

The characters are strong and humorous. Of particular note is Tiana who, as well as being Disney’s first black lead heroine, was an incredibly positive female role model. I also was a big fan of Ray the firefly, played by Jim Cummings. I can’t remember where it was, but I recently heard someone talking about how animation studios should rely more on specialized voice actors rather than celebrities to provide voices for their movies, and this movie certainly bears this theory out. Aside from John Goodman and Anika Noni Rose there were no well know names in the cast (oh and a Oprah Winfrey cameo too).

The animation is stunning, and there are a number of scenes that are almost breathtaking. And they are all the more enjoyable for the nostalgia that the animation provokes. It all looks pretty damn special on Blu-Ray too, as crisp and vibrant as I’ve come to expect from the format. In fact I’d argue that animation is just about the perfect genre for blu-ray as get the picture quality without having to stare at the actors pores and pimples.

So any bad bits? Well, not specifically, but The Princess and the Frog doesn’t feel like it has as much, I dunno, heart as some of the older traditionally animated movies from Disney. Nor does it have that multi age range appeal that the Pixar films do. I’d think nothing of sticking Toy Story or Wall-E on the blu-ray player when the kids weren’t home, but I’d feel a bit wet doing that with The Princess and the Frog. That’s hardly a fair criticism though, as it’s not many films on this earth that can compare to a Pixar one anyhow.

So in summery, The Princess and the Frog is a welcome return to traditional animation by Disney, and one that is very worthy of joining their very impressive stable. The music is great, the animation wonderful, and the characters and plot engaging and humorous. Plus it has ukuleles in it, you don’t get much better than that.

[rating:8/10]

If you would like to buy The Princess and the Frog then you can do so on blu-ray here
and on DVD here.

Disclaimer
I received a copy of The Princess and the Frog on blu-ray to review. I also got given a blu-ray player by Disney around a year ago in order to review their releases. However the opinions expressed in this review are honest and I have felt no pressure from Disney to provide a positive review.

Also if you buy it from one of the links I’ve given I get an extremely small kickback from Amazon

Neverending Story

Aug 6th, 2010
by Dan.
4 comments

Not much time for blogging this week as I’ve been a bit busy planning barbecues and duck houses. However we’re still plugging away over at the Midnight Movie Club.

This week we’ve been talking about The Never Ending Story. And for the second week in a row we actually manage to keep on topic. We don’t even mention Frankenhooker once!!

Have a listen below, or even better subscribe to us on iTunes. And while you are there leave us a rating and a review (go on, you know you want to)

[display_podcast]

Oh, and I apologize if I’ve now got that bloody song stuck in your head.

Movie Review: The Tooth Fairy

Aug 3rd, 2010
by Dan.
19 comments

Yesterday on Facebook I was harangued by a couple of so called “friends” for expressing the surprised opinion that despite my expectations going into the cinema, the movie “The Tooth Fairy” wasn’t half bad.

Theoretically these two people have a far more developed critical eye than I do. One, Neil, spent two years as director of photography on a long running UK TV drama (ok, ok, it was Emmerdale – but it still counts). The other, Chris, hosts my second favorite movie podcasts, Casta La Vista, and regularly reviews films with humour, intelligence, and an abundance of delightfully foul language.

Yet despite their apparent qualifications I still maintain that they are wrong. The Tooth Fairy fairly watchable, and even strays into “quite charming” territory at times.

I realise I’m swimming against the tide here. Neil and Chris aren’t alone in their dislike of the movie. The movies Rotten Tomatoes’ page say it has an overall approval rating of 17% amongst professional critics, and an average score of 4 out of 10. But I think that’s all rather harsh.

In case you’ve not come across the movie yet, the plot surrounds a minor league hockey player (The Rock) who ends up having to serve a week as a real life tooth fairy in punishment for telling his girlfriend’s daughter that the tooth fairy doesn’t exist. The overall theme of the film centers around the importance to hold onto your dreams and all that sort of thing.

The Rock (yeah, yeah, he calls himself Dwayne Johnson these days, but we all know he’s really called the Rock) is a very under rated actor in my opinion. He’s got a very healthy dollop of charisma and always manages to come across as more than just a musclebound lunkhead. And if you compare him to other wrestlers that tried their hand at acting then he suddenly starts looking like Oscar winning material. I mean I like The Princess Bride as much as the next man, but no one could describe Andre the Giant as anything other than wooden.

So the Rock accounts for himself pretty well in the movie. He plays the whole “Big tough guy in feminised role” shtick very well and with very little obvious discomfort (unlike Arnie who always sucked at it). As I say, I find the guy quite charming and a generally believable actor.

But the real highpoint for me in this film was Stephen Merchant. He’s a comedian that I really like, but unfortunately often find his partner Ricky Gervais a little grating. I very much liked his portrayal of the geeky and awkward tooth fairy probation worker, and found the scene where he squares up to him particularly amusing.

Other actors of note were Julie Andrews and Billy Crystal as tooth fairy equivalents to Bond’s M and Q respectively. I’ve seen a fair bit of criticism of these two veteran actors for doing this film, much of which coming from the guys over at Casta la Vista if I remember correctly, however as I say I feel it’s a bit unfair really. Crystal had a good part with some funny gags which I felt was more or less worthy of him. And Andrews is blandness personified in every film since The Sound of Music anyway, although my Midnight Movie Club co-host Lee may argue that 2001′s The Princess Diaries was actually her finest hour (the girly freak).

So in short I had no problem at all with the casting and performances in this film.

The plot? Meh, the plot was pretty by the numbers. A standard tale of initial cynicism turning to redemptive belief, a device more commonly found on your box standard Christmas movie. But I don’t think this is particularly a bad thing. This is a kids film and children thrive on the familiarity and security that well worn tropes provide.

So all in all The Tooth Fairy is a pretty enjoyable children’s film that I feel has been unfairly maligned by the critics. Sure it’s no Pixar movie, but then very few films are. I’d heard some very negative opinions of the film before walking into the cinema, and so my enjoyment of the movie may have been boosted by my initial low expectations. But it’s a film I’d happily add to my kid’s DVD library.

[rating:6.5/10]

The Tooth Fairy has been out for quite a while now. We saw it at a cut price kids club showing at the local cinema. It’s released on DVD and Blu-ray in the UK on the 20th of September, but is already available on DVD and Blu-ray in the US.

Disclosure
We paid for our own entry (and horrifically overpriced popcorn) to watch this at the cinema. However if you buy a DVD or Blu-ray through one of the links on this post then I get a very small kickback from Amazon.

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