Film Review: Moana (2016)

Halfway through Moana, the demigod Maui (voiced by Dwayne Johnson) derisively calls the eponymous character (voiced by Auli'i Cravalho) "princess". She says that she isn't a princess, she's the daughter of a chief, and while Maui isn't swayed by the distinction, it's an important one to Moana - it's the latest example of man trying to define who she is, and in doing so underestimating her - but also for the film around her. "Princess" comes laden with certain expectations about responsibilities, behaviours, and decorum, just as the notion of a "Disney Princess" is associated with a certain kind of storytelling.

Film Review: The Jungle Book (2016)

One of the more surprising (not to mention lucrative) developments in recent years has been Walt Disney's decision to reach back into their cavernous back catalogue to create live-action versions of their animated classics. It's surprising both because of how successful those films have been (most notably Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland, which grossed more than a billion dollars worldwide back in 2010), but also because it's such a simple idea that it feels like it should have happened ten times over already. With a steady stream of similar adaptations due over the next couple of years (some of which make more sense than others), Disney's nostalgia-mining looks set to continue for some time. We can only hope that the next installments display as much love and wit as Jon Favreau's take on Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book. Or, more accurately, his take on the 1967 Disney version of The Jungle Book, since the story and design of Favreau's film has much more in common with that than the original stories.

Shot/Reverse Shot: Episode 104 - Disney

Now that Disney own basically everything in pop culture - or at least everything that people on the Internet like to talk about - Matt and I decided now would be the perfect time to talk about the impact that the House of Mouse have had on cinema, as well as the ways in which their corporate elements allow them to take surprisingly big risks.

Film Review: Tomorrowland (2015)

In Brad Bird's Tomorrowland, the future isn't what it used to be. From an opening sequence set at the 1964 World's Fair to the depiction of the eponymous city, a metropolis which mimics the futurist aesthetic of the Disney attraction of the same name, the film is awash in nostalgia for a future that never happened. By being partially set in a world of jetpacks, hovering trains and boundless creativity, it hearkens back to the world we were promised by the science fiction of the '50s and '60s; an altogether neater world in which science makes the lives of every human being better.

Film Review: Big Hero 6 (2014)

Seven years and nearly a dozen movies into what sages will one day call The Age of Marvel, it's pretty easy to spot the tropes that crop up in films produced by Marvel Studios. Chances are that a Marvel film, particularly one launching a new character or set of characters, will revolve around geniuses who have suffered or will suffer some tragic loss, will feature a villain with little of their own personality (unless they're Loki, in which case they'll almost have too much personality), and will probably end with a battle in the sky above a major city. Each film finds ways to differentiate itself from its predecessors, but they tend to follow a fairly well-worn (and immensely lucrative) framework.

Film Review: Into The Woods (2014)

Into The Woods, Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine's great stage musical in which a host of fairytale figures - Red Riding Hood and her wolf, Cinderella, Rapunzel, their respective princes - all meet in the titular forest, after which their stories collide and their Happily Ever Afters go askew, is not the easiest play to bring to the screen. Like most Sondheim shows, it's heavy on rapidly delivered lyrics full of dazzling wordplay ("Son we've no time to sit and dither/while her withers wither with her"), which means that movement is understandably limited, and therefore not massively cinematic. And much of the charm of the original show lies in the limitations of realising a fantastical world onstage. Presenting an actual forest populated by magical things, rather than allowing audiences to imagine them with a canny bit of stagecraft, makes it all look a little more ordinary, while also making some of the more traditional visual choices - such as the way that Johnny Depp's Wolf looks like someone with whiskers glued on to his face - look weird and out of place.

Film Review: Frozen (2013)

Elsa (Idina Menzel) and Anna (Kristen Bell) are a pair of princesses who have spent most of their lives living within the walls of their castle in the kingdom of Arendelle. Unlike most cases of princesses being kept hidden, they've been kept there for a very good reason; Elsa has the power to control and manipulate ice, and when they were children, Elsa nearly killed her younger sister while the two were playing. Afraid that she might  hurt her again, Elsa retreated into the castle to protect herself and Anna while the people of Arendelle went about their lives. As Elsa comes of age, the gates of the castle are thrown open for her coronation, to her dread and Anna's palpable delight. Things quickly go awry, and Elsa flees the kingdom, accidentally leaving it frozen in her wake. It falls to Anna, along with the ice trader Kristoff (Johnathan Groff) and his adorable reindeer Sven, to coax Elsa back to civilization before Arandelle is destroyed by the winter, or before the Duke of Weselton's (Alan Tydyk) men find her and seek to end the cold by ending her life.

Film Review: Saving Mr. Banks (2013)

For over twenty years, P.L. Travers (Emma Thompson) denied Walt Disney (Tom Hanks) the rights to her most famous character, Mary Poppins, despite the huge monetary reward she would receive for allowing him to adapt her work into a film. Early on in Saving Mr. Banks, the story of how Disney finally managed to convince Travers to let him make that movie, Travers explains to her agent, for what must be the thousandth time, the reason why she has persisted in her refusal for so long. (Or, at the very least, she provides a reason why she has resisted.) She's afraid that if she signs the rights to Disney, and if he in turn makes a film out of her books, that he will turn Mary Poppins into a cartoon, a creature that is all sparkle and whimsy, with all the rough edges sanded off and darkness removed. While watching John Lee Hancock's film, it's easy to imagine the real Travers tutting ruefully as the corporation that bears Disney's name does to her own life what she feared Walt himself would do to Mary Poppins.

Film Review: Oz The Great and Powerful (2013)

"I stumble into town, just like a sacred cow..."

While the ending is not always the most important part of a film, it is the one that most often shapes the audiences' overall impression of it. An unsatisfying or poorly handled ending can sour everything good that built up to it, whilst a great ending can help smooth over the rough edges of a flawed film. This holds especially true for Oz the Great and Powerful, Disney's new take on the work of L. Frank Baum directed by Sam Raimi, an inverse bell curve of a film which opens and closes strongly, but falls into a pretty bad trough while trying to connect those two peaks.

Film Review: Wreck-It Ralph (2012)

Videogames are built upon repetition. Collect the rings, drop the blocks, perform a Fatality, these are the foundation upon which an entire medium and accompanying culture have grown. Each time through, the players might get a little bit better, they might keep failing at the same point, but the mechanics of the game remain essentially the same. But what if the characters carrying out that repetition had lives of their own? What must it be like to have to go through the same limited selection of motions and actions every day? And what of the bad guys, the ones who throw the punches and the barrels, who spend their days being the focal point of constant anger and frustration? To paraphrase Camus, should we imagine Donkey Kong happy?

Film Review: John Carter (2012)

Influence is a double-edged sword. Innovators may achieve immortality through their work, and through that which they inspire, but there's always the risk that, as their influence spreads, their own ideas will start to appear outdated and quaint. That which was once startling and original will look cliched and tired, that which was once daring will look tame. Such is the problem that afflicts John Carter, which is based on the "John Carter of Mars" series of stories by Edgar Rice Burroughs, which first appeared in print one hundred years ago and became key texts in the creation of the space opera sub-genre of science fiction which gave the world Star Wars and Avatar, to name but two of its progeny. Considering that its source material inspired two of the most successful films ever made, it'd be surprising if John Carter didn't feel overly familiar.

The film that scared me the most as a child and still does, sort of

One of small pleasures of New Year's Day is seeing what old films the various terrestrial and digital channels dig out of their vaults to give a fresh airing since they don't have any original programming to fill the schedule. It's usually the same four or five old war films or comedies from the 1960s, but every so often an interesting little curio slips through. Such was the case this year, as Channel 5 decided to air a double-bill of The Wizard of Oz and its belated sequel, Return to Oz.

The Lion King 3D as an example of the failings of 3D

Last Saturday, on the penultimate day of a two-week visit to my parents' house in Florida, my sister and I jumped into her car, drove to the local cinema, and paid to see The Lion King in 3D. It was a pretty special moment for the two of us, since it was the first time that either of us had seen the film on the big screen since 1994 (though it was by no means the first time that we had seen it since then, since we watched it quite literally hundreds of times on VHS in the '90s) and there's always something indefinably beautiful about seeing a film you love on the big screen, especially when it's a version that people who love the film as much as you have clearly spent a great deal of time remastering it.

Film Review: Tangled (2010)

Disney's "final" fairytale (I use quotation marks because Tangled seems just as likely to be their final fairytale in the same way that the fourth Friday The 13th film was the "Final Chapter") looks at first glance to be the sort of smug, broad pandering tripe so often produced by DreamWorks, and anyone who has seen the trailer would be forgiven for thinking that was what it was. Yet in retelling the story of Rapunzel (Mandy Moore), it reveals itself to be a film that combines the best elements of classic Disney films - a touching, aching sincerity attached to well-drawn characters - and Enchanted - a wry, witty sense of humour which works for both adults and kids without alienating either.

The Princess and the Frog

Louis: You sure this is the right blind voodoo lady who lives in the boat in the tree in the bayou?
Ray: Pretty sure.


I grew up during the American Animation Renaissance of the 1980's and 90's and I clearly remember the sheer joy and excitement I felt every time a new Disney animated film was released. Trips to the cinema to see films like Beauty and the Beast - the first film I ever saw in a cinema -, Aladdin and the Lion King were almost holy experiences for me growing up. That same childish sense of wonder came over me as I sat down to watch Disney's return to hand-drawn animation, The Princess and the Frog.

I mention all of this so that you will know just how strongly I feel about these films. Please keep my love of Disney in mind when reading this review, not because it blinds me to the flaws of the film, but because I hold the films to which The Princess and the Frog aspires in very high regard and I went in with very high expectations. Despite those expectations, I came away feeling giddy and joyous. It's almost too good to be true. Like a fairytale, in fact.

Enough dewy-eyed reminiscing, to the plot.

The princess of the title is not a princess at all, but a poor working class black woman named Tiana. (Voiced by Aniki Noni Rose.) Tiana is a poor waitress in New Orleans during the Jazz Age, and has worked all her life to fulfill her late father's dream of opening a restaurant. Her dream seems on the brink of falling apart when she learns that she has been outbid, and she's in need of a miracle.

Whilst wishing on a star, of course, Tiana spies a frog. Asking the frog if he wants a kiss, he replies "Kissing would be nice". No, this is no mere frog, this is Prince Naveen (Voiced by Bruno Campos.), a philandering young fellow who has been turned into a frog by a local voodoo man (Voiced with gusto by Keith David.) who plans to use the stolen form of Naveen to make himself very wealthy. Tiana and Naveen strike a deal: Tiana will kiss Naveen, in doing so turning him back, and Naveen will give Tiana the money she needs to buy her restaurant. Things don't go according to plan, though, since the kiss turns Tiana into a frog as well, and the two find themselves lost in the bayou as they try to break the curse, aided by a firefly who is in love with the moon (Yes, really.) and an alligator who just wants to play trumpet in a jazz band.

The worst thing that could be said The Princess and the Frog is that it doesn't stretch the animated musical beyond what has been done before. Watching it is like watching a potted history of Disney animation: Evil wizard. Check. Bickering male/female leads who start out hating each other then fall in love. Check. The guarantee of a song and dance number every few minutes. Check . To denounce it for that is to miss the point - it's a big, glorious celebration of an artform that Disney excelled at in the past and, on the basis of The Princess and the Frog, still excel at.

The script, written by co-directors Ron Clements and John Musker, is incredibly funny. There's plenty of delightful sight gags, witty spins on traditional Disney tropes, a sincerity to it that, like the best of Disney, pulls at the heartstrings without tearing them out and enough moments of darkness to scare kids. The relationship between Tiana and Naveen has just the right level of prickliness to add friction to their scenes, but not so much that their eventual romance feels forced, and the sentimentality is never allowed to trample the gags or the songs.

Having said that The Princess and The Frog doesn't reinvent the animated musical, it does slip a few little surprises in: The music, rather than being inspired by pop or classical music, is largely gospel and jazz-derived, giving it a different feel to previous Disney outings. Randy Newman's score and original songs create a rich aural texture to match the beautiful hand-drawn animation.

Time will tell whether or not this will usher in Disney's third golden age or go down as John Lasseter's folly, but let's forget history for a moment and appreciate how magical it is to see a film like this being made. Anyone who grew up with Disney will fall in love with The Princess and The Frog. I know I did.

Oscar Predictions: The Technical Awards

Has it really been a year since I last dusted off my (virtual) tux and sat down to ruminate on the year's Oscars in a vain - in both senses of the word - attempt to try to figure out who is going to win? It has? Oh, well, best get started then. I'm going to do things slightly differently this year by splitting the predictions into two posts: The Technical Awards and the Major Awards. This is mainly because the Technical Oscars are ones that I can write up very quickly, so I'll be able to write this one up sharpish and spend more time on the main ones, but also because, theoretically, two separate posts will be more easily digestible than one turgidly long one.

Let's begin.

Ed's Predictions:

Best Short Film, Live Action
Nominees:

The Door (2008): Juanita Wilson, James Flynn
Istället för abrakadabra (2008): Patrik Eklund, Mathias Fjällström
Kavi (2009): Gregg Helvey
Miracle Fish (2009): Luke Doolan, Drew Bailey
The New Tenants (2009): Joachim Back, Tivi Magnusson

As with the last two years, I haven't seen any of these so will have to use a completely arbitrary system of judgement. This year, I'm plumping for Kavi, because Gregg Helvey was interviewed on an episode of Battleship Pretension a few months ago and he sounded like a nice, interesting guy, and the other nominees could all murder kittens for pleasure, as far as I know.


Best Short Film, Animated
Nominees:

French Roast (2008): Fabrice Joubert
Granny O'Grimm's Sleeping Beauty (2008): Nicky Phelan, Darragh O'Connell
La dama y la muerte (2009): Javier Recio Gracia
Logorama (2009): Nicolas Schmerkin
Wallace and Gromit in 'A Matter of Loaf and Death' (2008) (TV): Nick Park

Easy; Nick Park. Just look at his Oscar track record: nominated five times before, won four of those times, and only lost the fifth because he was nominated twice in the same year; he only lost because he was competing against himself.


Best Documentary, Short Subjects
Nominees:

China's Unnatural Disaster: The Tears of Sichuan Province (2009) (TV): Jon Alpert, Matthew O'Neill
The Last Campaign of Governor Booth Gardner (2009): Daniel Junge, Henry Ansbacher
The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant (2009) (TV): Steven Bognar, Julia Reichert
Królik po berlinsku (2009): Bartosz Konopka, Anna Wydra
Music by Prudence (2010): Roger Ross Williams, Elinor Burkett

The Documentary categories are one of the few sections of the Oscars that is, year in year out, allowed to be overtly political. Whilst the main awards will occasionally hand out awards to politically aware and progressive films, they tend to ignore them in favour of glitzier fare. With this in mind, I think The Last Truck will win, since it seems to have a timeliness to it that the others lack.


Best Documentary, Features
Nominees:

Burma VJ: Reporter i et lukket land (2008): Anders Østergaard, Lise Lense-Møller
The Cove (2009): Louie Psihoyos, Fisher Stevens
Food, Inc. (2008): Robert Kenner, Elise Pearlstein
The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers (2009): Judith Ehrlich, Rick Goldsmith
Which Way Home (2009): Rebecca Cammisa

A decidedly strong bunch here, with much to recommend them; Burma VJ is one of the most vital and incendiary documentaries of the last few years; The Cove is one of the most acclaimed documentaries of the last few years; and Food Inc. has recently seen a surge of popularity after Oprah Winfrey profiled it, making the DVD the number one in America. I think that The Cove will ultimately win out, though, since, much like Man On Wire last year, it's built a strong swell of critical and popular support over the course of the year.


Best Foreign Language Film of the Year
Nominees:

Ajami (2009)(Israel)
Das weisse Band - Eine deutsche Kindergeschichte (2009)(Germany)
El secreto de sus ojos (2009)(Argentina)
Un prophète (2009)(France)
La teta asustada (2009)(Peru)

Gah! Two of the best films I've seen in the last year going head to head in a repeat of last year's Cannes film festival ! Even though I think Un prophète is a better film, I think that Das weisse Band will win out because it's had longer to make an impact and because Michael Haneke is one of those directors who has long been a critical darling but whose work has never been recognised by the Academy.


Best Animated Feature Film of the Year
Nominees:

Coraline (2009): Henry Selick
Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009): Wes Anderson
The Princess and the Frog (2009): John Musker, Ron Clements
The Secret of Kells (2009): Tomm Moore
Up (2009): Pete Docter

I think that Up's nomination in the Best Picture category - which I am ecstatic about, by the way - could hurt its chances here, since people may ignore it if they think that it is in with a shot of winning a 'proper' award, even if it almost certainly won't. However, the fact that it is the most successful of the nominees - as well as the most universally praised, though it's a stellar bunch - will see it win out.

Best Achievement in Visual Effects
Nominees:

Avatar (2009): Joe Letteri, Stephen Rosenbaum, Richard Baneham, Andy Jones
District 9 (2009): Dan Kaufman, Peter Muyzers, Robert Habros, Matt Aitken
Star Trek (2009): Roger Guyett, Russell Earl, Paul Kavanagh, Burt Dalton

Even though District 9 and Star Trek are much, much better films that are more inventive and entertaining, Avatar will certainly win this because, as ambivalent as I am about the merits of the film in terms of storytelling, the effects are amazing.


Best Achievement in Sound Editing
Nominees:

Avatar (2009): Christopher Boyes, Gwendolyn Yates Whittle
The Hurt Locker (2008): Paul N.J. Ottosson
Inglourious Basterds (2009): Wylie Stateman
Star Trek (2009): Mark P. Stoeckinger, Alan Rankin
Up (2009): Michael Silvers, Tom Myers

There's a chance that Avatar's visual splendour will bleed into the other categories, allowing it to pick up some of the audio awards along the way, but I think this could be the first win for The Hurt Locker, since the sound of the film is hugely important in creating its unbearably tense atmosphere.


Best Achievement in Sound Mixing
Nominees:

Avatar (2009): Christopher Boyes, Gary Summers, Andy Nelson, Tony Johnson
The Hurt Locker (2008): Paul N.J. Ottosson, Ray Beckett
Inglourious Basterds (2009): Michael Minkler, Tony Lamberti, Mark Ulano
Star Trek (2009): Anna Behlmer, Andy Nelson, Peter J. Devlin
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009): Greg P. Russell, Gary Summers, Geoffrey Patterson

Seriously? Transformers gets a nomination? Well, it's certainly the loudest of the nominees, which might count for something, but I think this will be another win for The Hurt Locker, since I've never really understood what the difference is between Sound 'Editing' and Sound 'Mixing', so they tend to go hand in hand.


Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Song
Nominees:

Crazy Heart (2009): T-Bone Burnett, Ryan Bingham("The Weary Kind")
Faubourg 36 (2008): Reinhardt Wagner, Frank Thomas("Loin de Paname")
Nine (2009): Maury Yeston("Take It All")
The Princess and the Frog (2009): Randy Newman("Almost There")
The Princess and the Frog (2009): Randy Newman("Down in New Orleans")

I was originally going to give this one to Crazy Heart based purely on the fact that having multiple nominations for songs, as The Princess and The Frog does here, tends to lead to a splitting of the vote, allowing for songs from smaller films to win. The best recent example of this being when 'Falling Slowly' from Once managed to win against three songs from Enchanted. For that reason, and because it's a lovely song, I'm plucking for 'The Weary Kind.'


Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Score
Nominees:

Avatar (2009): James Horner
Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009): Alexandre Desplat
The Hurt Locker (2008): Marco Beltrami, Buck Sanders
Sherlock Holmes (2009): Hans Zimmer
Up (2009): Michael Giacchino

I'm going to throw my support being Michael Giacchino's beautiful score for Up. Whilst James Horner's score for Avatar is effective, it just isn't as inventive or haunting as Giacchino's repeated motifs and subtle tones in Up.


Best Achievement in Makeup
Nominees:

Il divo (2008): Aldo Signoretti, Vittorio Sodano
Star Trek (2009): Barney Burman, Mindy Hall, Joel Harlow
The Young Victoria (2009): John Henry Gordon, Jenny Shircore

I'm so surprised to see Paolo Sorrentino's Il Divo nominated that I'm going to say it'll win. It seems like one of those La vie en rose nominations that winds up winning because, despite its showier competition, it's just so much better.


Best Achievement in Costume Design
Nominees:

Bright Star (2009): Janet Patterson
Coco avant Chanel (2009): Catherine Leterrier
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (2009): Monique Prudhomme
Nine (2009): Colleen Atwood
The Young Victoria (2009): Sandy Powell

Coco avant Chanel will win for the chic factor, if nothing else.


Best Achievement in Art Direction
Nominees:

Avatar (2009): Rick Carter, Robert Stromberg, Kim Sinclair
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (2009): David Warren, Anastasia Masaro, Caroline Smith
Nine (2009): John Myhre, Gordon Sim
Sherlock Holmes (2009): Sarah Greenwood, Katie Spencer
The Young Victoria (2009): Patrice Vermette, Maggie Gray

Wow, what a hodge-podge of nominees. This feels like an Avatar win, to me; creating an entire world just seems more impressive that getting period trappings just right.


Best Achievement in Editing
Nominees:

Avatar (2009): Stephen E. Rivkin, John Refoua, James Cameron
District 9 (2009): Julian Clarke
The Hurt Locker (2008): Bob Murawski, Chris Innis
Inglourious Basterds (2009): Sally Menke
Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire (2009): Joe Klotz

The battle between Avatar and The Hurt Locker for awards supremacy rages on and The Hurt Locker will win this bout for its visceral action sequences and palpable tension.


Best Achievement in Cinematography
Nominees:

Avatar (2009): Mauro Fiore
Das weisse Band - Eine deutsche Kindergeschichte (2009): Christian Berger
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009): Bruno Delbonnel
The Hurt Locker (2008): Barry Ackroyd
Inglourious Basterds (2009): Robert Richardson

I'm quite delighted to see Harry Potter nominated here. I thought it was one of the most visually arresting films of last year and made for an uncommonly beautiful blockbuster, particularly one that is the sixth in a series. It won't win, but it was nice all the same. Neither will Das weisse Band or Inglourious Basterds, despite both being hugely accomplished pieces of work. It's Team Bigelow and Team Cameron again and, this time, it'll be Avatar that takes the glory.


Right, that's the end of Part One. I shall return tomorrow with my thoughts on the Major Awards.

Stay Tuned; Same Mighty Fine Time, Same Mighty Fine Channel.