What A "Tangled" Web We Weave Today!

Tangled (2010)

Rated PG

Starring Mandy Moore, Zachary Levi, Donna Murphy

Directed by Nathan Greno

The Story:

Rapunzel (Moore) is a princess with magical healing powers in her hair.  Kidnapped from her parents by Mother Gothel (Murphy), she lives alone, isolated in a tower.  Every year she sees a magnificent displays of light, unaware that it is her parents releasing thousands of balloons into the sky in the hopes that she will return.  When scoundrel Flynn Rider (Levi) makes his escape from the castle and is looking for a place to hide, he stumbles upon Rapunzel and reluctantly agrees to take her back to see the lights.  It's an adventure of a lifetime for the both of them.

This is a good princess movie.

Great voice actors.

Great storyline.

Great characters.

Fun songs from the returning Alan Menken.

Everything that Frozen was not.

:)

Why it got the love and not this film, I'll never understand.

Especially considering how much of this film seems to have been lifted and transplanted into Frozen.

This is one with well-placed musical numbers throughout the film, balancing out the story with musical numbers.

The dynamic between Flynn and Max provides a great hero/villain then buddy/action tale.

The love story is natural and not forced.

Even the rebellious nature of Rapunzel against her 'mother' was filled with conflict and remorse.
Yeah...

I don't get why this one wasn't better received.

It was, and is, clearly the superior film.

The one complaint I heard about this film was how the portrayal of the "witch" was an indictment against adopted parents...



Wow, talk about looking to get offended.

She. Stole. Rapunzel.

Didn't adopt.
Stole.

Her real parents never lost hope that they would get their loved one back.

In fact, it's one of the rare Disney instances where the parents aren't evil, stupid, or killed.

:) 

Final Grade: A-

Rewatchability/Purchase Factor: Own it, and it's a great one.

I Refuse To Drink The "Frozen" Kool-Aid

Frozen (2013)

Rated PG

Starring: Kristen Bell, Idina Menzel, Johnathan Groff, Josh Gad, Santino Fontana

Directed by  Jennifer Lee

The Story:

Elsa (Menzel) has the power to turn things to ice with her touch.  When she accidentally hurts her sister Anna (Bell), her parents forbid the two from seeing each other again.  Anna is heartbroken, wondering what she did to lose her sister.  When Elsa's powers rage out of control, she escapes the kingdom to live alone and never hurt anyone again.  She doesn't realize that her powers left her kingdom under a blizzard, so Anna and Kristoff (Groff) set off to find her and turn the blizzard off.

I wanted to like this film, I honestly did.

I didn't.

I take my Disney film seriously, and this movie let me down on so many levels.

While I didn't hate it, and believe me, I came really close, I would consider this one of Disney's most contrived, clichéd entries in ages.

That the entire world thinks this is the greatest Disney film of a generation, makes me weep for our future.

Plus it wins an Academy Award for best animated film and best song?

So much wrong...

Where do I begin?

The musical aspect...

The songs are hackneyed and overdone, bursting into song way too frequently in the first 1/2 of the movie, then going silent through the end.  Poor pacing for a musical.  Also lacking much of the fun, depth and beauty of the Alan Menken scores.

"Let It Go" belongs in a Disney film or a broadway production.

Not on Top 40 radio.

Every hour.

Gratingly out of place, it makes me dislike this movie even more every time I hear it play.

Think "My Heart Will Go On" from Celine Dion/Titanic.

Yeah, it's like that.

The characters...

Which ones WEREN'T directly lifted and remodeled after Tangled?

And not just the people...

The horses in the kingdom were direct copies of Maximus.

Sven, the reindeer, got Max's personality aspect, though severely dumbed down.

Olaf (Gad) the snowman?

Terrible! One of the worst "funny sidekick" characters I've had to endure in all of Disney-dom.

He walks around throughout the film and his delivery makes him sound drunk, or high, throughout the entire film.  Eesh.

The Romance...

Hello, poorly contrived, out of left-field.

Kristoff, if anything, would have been smitten with Elsa, not Anna.

This was a complete cop-out and just smacked of a last ditch effort to give Anna a happy ending.

Well, Anna should never have agreed to marry Hans, or Disney never should have pulled a 180 on his character after such a short and shoe-horned introduction.

Think about it:  How did Hans know he was in the presence of Princess Anna?  Nobody had ever seen her outside of the castle.

Contrived!

There was a good story somewhere in the source material to be had.

This was not it.

Final Grade: I lean towards C-... but then I just want to Let It Go...

D+ and eligible for Turkey of the Year!

Rewatchability/Purchase Factor: I won't buy it and I definitely won't watch it again.

It's Been A Decade, Still Waiting For A Sequel To "The Incredibles"

The Incredibles (2004)

Rated PG for slightly scary stuff... if you're like a baby or something! ;)

Starring Craig T. Nelson, Holly Hunter, Sarah Vowell, Spencer Fox, Samuel L. Jackson, Jason Lee

Directed & Written by Brad Bird

The Story:

Mr. Incredible (Nelson) and Elastigirl (Hunter) were two of America's best superheroes.  However, the times have changed, and all of the old heroes have gone into "retirement" at the behest of the government.  Trying to live a normal life, they started a family, but Mr. Incredible has the itch to get back into the game.  When given a chance to relive some of the old glory days, he takes a chance, but is captured by Syndrome (Lee) a wannabe sidekick with delusions of grandeur.  It's up to the family to save their dad, and the day.  Can they do it?

With the release of this film, it was easily, for me, considered the best superhero movie ever.

If Marvel Studios hadn't hit a home run with Iron Man, I would have maintained that the best way to bring the heroes to life would be to follow Pixar's lead and craft well written stories that allow for the dynamics of animation to best convey the stories of superheroes.

But, Marvel made miracles happen, and the rest is history.

Meanwhile, The Incredibles now celebrates a decade of being one of Pixar's finest films.

It also cements the fact that Brad Bird is arguably the best writer/director of animated films of this generation.

The Iron Giant
The Incredibles
Ratatouille

All written and directed by him.

Probably John Lassetter is the only one more successful, but Bird was doing it prior to his arrival at Pixar, and he's also made the jump to live action films with Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol which was a very highly entertaining entry in that franchise.

The voice cast is spot on in this film, from the kids to every character throughout the film.  The dialogue and plot just pulls you in and holds you until the very end.

Plus, before he was Nick Fury, Samuel L. Jackson was FroZone!

:)

Excellent, all the way around.

Final Grade: A+

Rewatchability/Purchase Factor: Own it, love it.  Looking forward to the announced sequel (about time!)

The World Gets A Bit Dangerous "Walking With Dinosaurs"

Walking With Dinosaurs (2013)

Rated PG for scary dinosaurs

Starring Charlie Rowe, Karl Urban, Angourie Rice, John Leguizamo, Justin Long, Skyler Stone, Tiya Sircar

Directed by Barry Cook & Neil Nightingale

The Story:

In Alaska, an archaeologist (Urban) is driving his niece (Rice) and nephew (Rowe) to a site where he had found a dinosaur tooth.  Unimpressed, the nephew decides to sit at the truck and pout, when a bird named Alex (Leguizamo) comes along to tell the kid about the story about how that tooth came to be found where it was.  Cue the flashbacks and the story of a little dinosaur (Long) who grows up to be the leader of his herd though unlikely odds.

So apparently the brains behind this thought, let's take the BBC series Walking With Dinosaurs , and cross it with The Land Before Time...

Yes, these dinosaurs talk, though they don't do mouth movements, so it's not nearly as cutesy or annoying as you might think.

I don't know what to think...

The movie itself is nice to look at.  Using actual scenery with CGI, the landscapes and backgrounds are lush and beautiful.

However, I'm not sure how impressed I was overall with the dinosaurs.

Maybe it was the inclusion of humans in Jurassic Park, but I almost think those dinosaurs looked more realistic.

Anyway, the story itself isn't that terrible, and it's a film that the whole family can sit and enjoy/tolerate for 90 minutes, then it's done.

Final Grade: C

Rewatchability/Purchase Factor: No, I think I'm okay.

It's A Long Way Down, The Holiday Road..." National Lampoon's Vacation"

National Lampoon's Vacation (1983)

Rated R for language and brief nudity

Starring Chevy Chase, Beverly D'Angelo, Anthony Michael Hall, Dana Barron

Directed by Harold Ramis

The Story:

Clark Griswold (Chase) is set to take his family from Chicago halfway across country to Wally World, the family amusement park of choice!  Instead of flying, they plan on taking a road trip across country.

What could possibly go wrong?

It's been over 30 years since we first met the Griswold family, and they live out the American Dream, turned horrific nightmare that plagues the back of the mind of every dad who prepares for a road trip with their family.

Written by John Hughes, and directed by Harold Ramis, this comedy classic has endured for generations and is only overshadowed by the ever-popular Christmas Vacation due to the seasonal nature of that one enjoying repeated holiday viewings and becoming a family tradition for most people around Christmas time.

The original though is no slouch.

Between laugh out loud jokes, gags and pratfalls, Vacation has it all.

Anchored by arguably Chevy Chase's finest performance, he plays the perfect father who sets the bar way too high, and then slowly erupts when he can no longer even get close to clearing the bar.

D'Angelo is the perfect foil who tries to keep her manic husband in check along the way.

Then of course, the memorable minor characters who litter the landscape along the road trip.  From the crazy Cousin Eddie (Randy Quaid) to the elusive Girl in the Ferrari (Christie Brinkley), the story is chock full of characterization for even the smallest of cameos.

Filled with memorable characters and quotable dialogue, this is one of those comedies that has endured.

Final Grade: A

Rewatchability/Purchase Factor: I do own it, and while it doesn't get the multiple viewings per year of the Holiday version, it averages a viewing every year or two.

Your Spoiler-Free Review: "The Amazing Spider-Man 2"

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014)

Rated PG-13 for comic book violence

Starring: Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Jamie Foxx,

Directed by Marc Webb

The Story:



Peter (Garfield) and Gwen (Stone) graduate and are ready to move on in the world.  But things between the two keep getting complicated, especially as Peter digs deeper into the mystery of what happened to his parents.  Before the movie is over, secrets will be revealed and the stage is set for the biggest battle Peter has ever faced.

In 2012, I reviewed the reboot of the Spider-Man franchise: Amazing Spider-Man  So impressed, it would wind up being the second-best superhero released that year, and # 2 on my Top 10 List of the movies of 2012.

Fast forward to 2014, and poor Spidey...

He's currently the 2nd best superhero movie of the year, behind Captain America: The Winter Soldier.

Worse still, there's several more superhero movies on the horizon!

Bad news for Spidey...

Good news for comic book movie fans!

:)

So, if like me, you enjoyed the first Amazing Spider-Man, you're going to enjoy this sequel.

If you didn't, then I can't think there's any reason you'll want to see the sequel.  I mean, what movie fan goes back to watch sequels to movies they didn't really care for?

Myself excepted, of course. ;)

The main criticism I've read/seen on the latest installment:  "There's too many characters (I'm assuming bad guys) in this one".

My response...

Uh, no.

This plays out just like the comics.  We cut to different characters, different sub plots as the main story chugs forward to conclusion.  In comics, especially Spidey, he's enjoyed possibly the greatest gallery of supporting characters and villains of any franchise.  If you would argue Batman, that's about the only other franchise with the depth and greatness that I would concede on this matter.

This sequel reaches several logical conclusions in the continuing story in the life of Peter Parker.

It also sets up the inevitable sequel(s), to include the Sinister Six movie that is being mentioned around the web.

I can honestly say that my least favorite part of the film was the lack of Electro's costume.  I was a fan of the green and gold original.

Andrew Garfield continues to impress as Peter/Spidey.  Emma Stone is simply wonderful as Gwen Stacey.  Their chemistry is amazing. 

The effects are outstanding.

However, unlike Marvel Cinematic Universe offerings, you don't need to stick all the way through the credits.

Once you see the oddly placed X-Men clip... feel free to go.

Final Grade: B+

Rewatchability/Purchase Factor: I'll be buying this one for Christmas and enjoying it with the family.

Time To Go! "Fled"

Fled (1996)

Rated R for language and violence

Starring Laurence Fishburne, Stephen Baldwin, Will Patton, Salma Hayek

Directed by Kevin Hooks

The Story:

Piper (Fishburne) and Dodge (Baldwin) are convicts on a chain gang.  When a break-out happens, the two convicts make a run for it.  It seems that Dodge has some incriminating evidence on a disc that will lead to millions of dollars.  Piper... well there is more to his story than he is willing to share with Dodge.  They are pursued by Detective Gibson (Patton) who thinks something smells fishy about the whole setup.

This is another guilty pleasure movie for me.

It's about 90 minutes of pure adrenaline that never slows down, and rarely pauses for anything other than a quick joke, and then back to the action.

You've seen the movie, even if you've never seen the movie before.

They basically steal every scene in their movie from other movies and put their spin on it.

Heck, Dodge spouts out movie references and quotes throughout the movie with a wink and a nod to allow us to enjoy the joke.

The best one comes at the end of the movie, when he references another movie that Fishburne was in.

Comedy. Gold.

:)

Slow night, can't figure out something to watch, that's when Fled gets the call.

It's a B movie that knows it's a B movie and has a blast attempting to be the best B movie it can be.

Final Grade: Solid B

Rewatchability/Purchase Factor: I already own it, and I would say it sees the light of day every few years or so.