Tag: movies

All the animated movies in the world. Sort of.

Well, of course. This was a remarkable technological feat. And features a character named Roger.

From Johnny Bacardi. Neither he nor I named these categories, BTW.

CLASSIC DISNEY
——————————-

[X] 101 Dalmatians (1961) – probably in the first run. The lead adult male is named Roger, a guy who loves music, which was great!
[O] Alice in Wonderland (1951)
[X] Bambi (1942) – probably around 1963, in the theater. Scary stuff.
[X] Cinderella (1950) – probably around 1964, but I was 11, and I found it too “girly”; I like it better now.
[X] Dumbo (1941) – did I see this all the way through?
[X] Fantasia (1940) – saw as an adult, in a theater. Loved it.
[X] Lady and the Tramp (1955): probably c 1962. I related to Tramp.
[X] Mary Poppins (1964). But almost certainly NOT in the theater. On network TV, perhaps?
[X] Peter Pan (1953). Almost definitely on TV. Has not aged well.
[X] Pinocchio (1940). On TV. Quite intense.
[X] Sleeping Beauty (1959). In the theater c 1966, probably.
[X] Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937). In the theater c. 1965.
[O] Song of the South (1946). Only seen excerpts.

DISNEY’S DARK AGE
——————————-
[O] The Aristocats (1970)
[O] The Black Cauldron (1985)
[O] The Fox and the Hound (1981)
[O] The Great Mouse Detective (1986)
[X] The Jungle Book (1967). Probably on commercial TV.
[O] The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (1977)
[O] Oliver and Company (1986)
[O] Pete’s Dragon (1977)
[O] The Rescuers (1977). No, but I’ve read the adaptation.
[O] Robin Hood (1973)
[X] The Sword In The Stone (1963). Probably saw this first run.

THE DISNEY RENAISSANCE
——————————-
[X] Aladdin (1992). In the theater.
[X] Beauty and the Beast (1991): On video in the last year, with my daughter. I love that song “Gaston”.
[O] A Goofy Movie (1995)
[O] Hercules (1997)
[X] The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996). On video recently, though I owned the soundtrack earlier.
[X] The Lion King (1994). In the theater, my favorite in this category.
[X] The Little Mermaid (1989). On video, with my daughter, but she bailed in fear, and I watched the rest later.
[O] Mulan (1998). But read the adaptation.
[O] Pocahontas (1995). Ditto.
[O] The Rescuers Down Under (1990). Ditto.
[O] Tarzan (1999). Ditto.

DISNEY’S MODERN AGE
——————————-
[O] Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001)
[O] Bolt (2008)
[O] Brother Bear (2003)
[O] Chicken Little (2005)
[O] Dinosaur (2000)
[O] The Emperor’s New Groove (2000)
[X] Fantasia 2000 (2000). Not that much of an improvement, if at all.
[O] Home on the Range (2004)
[X] Lilo & Stitch (2002). Ended up seeing this on the Disney Channel or some such. It’s OK.
[O] Meet the Robinsons (2007)
[O] Treasure Planet (2002)

PIXAR
——————————-

[X] A Bug’s Life (1998). Saw it in a theater.
[O] Cars (2006). Always meant to see. And now Cars 2 is coming out in 2011.
[X] Finding Nemo (2003). We were at a Christmas party a couple of years ago. My daughter was upstairs watching this on video and she was sobbing over Nemo trapped in the aquarium trying to get out. Subsequently rented it myself.
[X] The Incredibles (2004): Saw in a theater. By far my favorite Pixar film, which I can tell, because it was on NBC recently, with all those damn commercials, and I still enjoyed it.
[O] Monsters Inc. (2001)
[X] Ratatouille (2007). I like this more than most people. They made a movie about a rat chef appetizing.
[X] Toy Story (1995). In theater.
[X] Toy Story 2 (1999). In a theater. Made me cry.
[X] Toy Story 3 (2010): In a theater. Also made me cry.
[X] Wall-E (2008). On video. Too scary for the daughter.
[X] Up (2009): Saw in a theater. Possibly the best first 15 minutes of any film.

DON BLUTH
——————————-
[O] All Dogs Go to Heaven (1989)
[O] An American Tail (1986). Saw a scene or two on TV.
[O] An American Tail: Fievel Goes West (1991)
[O] Anastasia (1997)
[O] The Land Before Time (1988)
[O] The Pebble and the Penguin (1995)
[O] Rock-a-Doodle (1991)
[O] The Secret of NIMH (1982)
[O] Thumbelina (1994)
[O] Titan AE (2000)
[O] A Troll in Central Park (1994)

CLAYMATION
——————————-
[O] The Adventures of Mark Twain (1986)
[X] Chicken Run (2000). In the theater. I LOVED Chicken Run.
[O] Corpse Bride (2005)
[O] James and the Giant Peach (1996)
[O] The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)
[O] Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005): Yet I have watched the three shorts.
[O] Coraline (2009)

CGI GLUT
——————————-
[X] Antz (1998). I saw both this and A Bug’s Life in theaters, and am now having difficulty recalling which was which.
[O] Bee Movie (2007)
[O] Happy Feet (2006)
[O] Ice Age (2002)
[O] Ice Age: The Meltdown (2006)
[O] Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (2009)
[O] Kung Fu Panda (2008)
[O] Madagascar (2005)
[O} Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa (2008)
[O] Monster House (2006)
[O] Over the Hedge (2006)
[O] The Polar Express (2004)
[O] Robots (2005)
[O] A Shark’s Tale (2004)
[X] Shrek (2001). In theater. Liked it well enough.
[X] Shrek 2 (2004). In theater. Started off strong, but lost interest.
[O] Shrek The Third (2007)
[O] Shrek Forever After (2010)
[O] Monsters vs. Aliens (2009)

IMPORTS
——————————-
[O] Arabian Knight (aka The Thief and the Cobbler) (1995)
[O] The Last Unicorn (1982)
[O] Light Years (1988)
[O] The Triplets of Belleville (2003). I REALLY need to see this!
[O] Persepolis (2007). And this.
[O] Waltz With Bashir (2008)
[O] Watership Down (1978)
[O] When the Wind Blows (1988)
[O] Wonderful Days (2003)
[X] Yellow Submarine (1968). Saw this three or four times in movie theaters. It was on network TV, CBS I think, and it was edited terribly.

STUDIO GHIBLI/MIYAZAKI
——————————-
[O] The Cat Returns (2002)
[O] Grave of the Fireflies (1988)
[X] Howl’s Moving Castle (2004)
[O] Kiki’s Delivery Service (1989)
[O] Laputa: Castle in the Sky (1986)
[O] Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro (1979)
[O] My Neighbors The Yamadas (1999)
[X] My Neighbor Totoro (1993)
[O] Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984)
[O] Only Yesterday (1991)
[O] Pom Poko (Tanuki War) (1994)
[O] Porco Rosso (1992)
[X] Princess Mononoke (1999)
[X] Spirited Away (2002). My favorite in this category.
[O] Whisper of the Heart (1995)
[O] Ponyo (2009)

SATOSHI KON
——————————-
[O] Millennium Actress (2001)
[O] Paprika (2006)
[O] Perfect Blue (1999)
[O] Tokyo Godfathers (2003)

SHINKAI MAKOTO
——————————-
[O] She and Her Cat (1999)
[O] Voices of a Distant Star (2001)
[O] The Place Promised in Our Early Days (2004)
[O] 5 Centimeters per Second (2007)

OTHER ANIME FILMS
——————————-
[O] Akira (1989)
[O] Angel’s Egg (1985)
[O] Appleseed (2004)
[O] Appleseed: Ex Machina (2007)
[O] Arcadia of My Youth (U.S. Title – Vengeance of the Space Pirate) (1982)
[O] Cowboy Bebop: The Movie (2003)
[O] The Dagger of Kamui (U.S. Title – Revenge of the Ninja Warrior) (1985)
[O] Dirty Pair: Project Eden (1987)
[O] End of Evangelion (1997)
[O] Evangelion 1.0: You Are (Not) Alone (2007)
[O] Evangelion 2.0: You Can (Not) Advance (2009)
[O] Fist of the North Star (1986)
[O] Galaxy Express 999 (1979)
[O] Ghost in the Shell (1996)
[O] Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence (2004)
[O] The Girl Who Lept Through Time (2006)
[O] Lensman (1984)
[O] Macross: Do You Remember Love (U.S. Title – Clash of the Bionoids) (1984)
[O] Memories (1995)
[O] Metropolis (2001)
[O] Neo-Tokyo (1986)
[O] Night on the Galactic Railroad (1985)
[O] Ninja Scroll (1993)
[O] Patlabor the Movie (1989)
[O] The Professional: Golgo 13 (1983)
[O] Project A-ko (1986)
[O] Robot Carnival (1987)
[O] Robotech: The Shadow Chronicle (2006)
[O] Silent Möbius (1991)
[O] The Sky Crawlers (2008)
[O] Space Adventure Cobra (1982)
[O] Steamboy (2004)
[O] Sword of the Stranger (2007)
[O] Unico and the Island of Magic (1983)
[O] Urotsukidoji: The Movie (1987)
[O] Urusei Yatsura: Beautiful Dreamer (1984)
[O] Urusei Yatsura: Only You (1982)
[O] Vampire Hunter D (1985)
[O] Vampire Hunter D Bloodlust (2000)
[O] Wings of Honneamise: Royal Space Force (1987)

CARTOONS FOR GROWN-UPS
——————————-
[O] American Pop (1981)
[O] The Animatrix (2003)
[O] Beavis & Butthead Do America (1996).
[O] Cool World (1992)
[O] Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within (2001)
[O] Final Fantasy: Advent Children (2005)
[O] Fire & Ice (1983)
[O] Fritz the Cat (1972). I have seen segments.
[O] Halo Legends (2009)
[O] Heavy Metal (1981)
[O] Heavy Metal 2000 (2000)
[O] Hey Good Lookin’ (1982)
[O] Lady Death (2004)
[O] A Scanner Darkly (2006)
[O] Sita Sings the Blues (2008)
[O] South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (1999)
[O] Street Fight (Coonskin) (1975)
[O] Waking Life (2001). I remember seeing this in preview and deciding I didn’t want to see it.

OTHER ANIMATED MOVIES
——————————-

[O] The Adventures of Prince Achmed (1926)
[O] Animal Farm (1954)
[O] Animalympics (1980)
[O] Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon The Movie (2007)
[O] Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker (2000)
[O] Batman: Gotham Knight (2008)
[O] Batman: Under the Red Hood (2010)
[O] The Brave Little Toaster (1988)
[O] Bravestarr: The Movie (1988)
[O] Cats Don’t Dance (1997)
[O] Care Bears: The Movie (1985)
[X] Charlotte’s Web (1973). I’ve actually seen the bulk of this at my church recently.
[O] Fern Gully (1992)
[O] G.I. Joe: The Movie (1987)
[O] Gobots: Battle of the Rock Lords (1986)
[O] Green Lantern: First Flight (2009)
[O] He-Man & She-Ra: The Secret of the Sword (1985)
[O] The Hobbit (1977)
[X] The Iron Giant (1999): One of my favorite films.
[O] Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths (2010)
[O] Justice League: The New Frontier (2008)
[O] Lord of the Rings (1978)
[O] Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland (1992)
[O] My Little Pony: The Movie (1986)
[O] Pink Floyd’s The Wall (1982). I saw parts of this on video, but just wasn’t in the mood.
[O] The Prince of Egypt (1998)
[O] Powerpuff Girls: The Movie (2002)
[O] Quest For Camelot (1999)
[O] Ringing Bell (1978)
[O] The Road to El Dorado (2000)
[O] Shinbone Alley (1971)
[O] Space Jam (1996). Yet I had a Space Jam T-shirt.
[O] Starchaser: The Legend of Orin (1985)
[O] Superman/Batman: Public Enemies (2009)
[O] Superman/Batman: Apocalypse (2010)
[O] Superman: Doomsday (2007)
[O] The Swan Princess (1994)
[O] Transformers: The Movie (1986)
[O] Wizards (1977)
[X] Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988). Well, of course. This was a remarkable technological feat. And features a character named Roger.
[O] Wonder Woman (2009)
[O] Balto (1995)
[O] Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron (2002)

The horror movie mystery is solved

That movie absolutely terrified me for weeks! Thought someone was going to kill ME, and I hadn’t even kissed a girl yet!

In one of those memes I do sometimes, there was a question about the movie that I found most scary. The problem was that I saw it when I was nine, give or take a year, couldn’t remember the title, and I didn’t even know how well I remembered the details.

Finally, I wised up and asked my friend, comic book artist, and more importantly in this context, horror film buff Steve Bissette:

What is the movie I’m trying to describe? I saw it c 1962, but it was likely the second run – it was paired with a 1956 Frances the Talking Mule film. The lead woman was very beautiful, very much so, and men wanted to kiss her, but if they did, she became very homely. In order to regain her beauty, she had to take this ring and stab them in the neck, killing them, then blow some powder afterward. Do you have ANY idea what I saw that freaked me out when I was nine?

The Leech Woman

Steve’s reply:

You saw THE LEECH WOMAN (1960), a black-and-white Universal-International film — and yep, they made the FRANCIS movies, too.

Here’s the Wiki synopsis, which is accurate:

A mysterious old woman approaches Dr. Paul Talbot (Phillip Terry) and promises to reveal to him the secret of eternal youth. Following her to Africa, he and his wife June Talbot (Coleen Gray) witness the secret ceremony that utilizes orchid pollen and a victim’s pineal gland secretions. June returns to the United States alone and proceeds to keep herself young by killing people for their pineal secretions. She becomes enamored with a man half her actual age and kills his fiance to maintain her youthful appearance. Eventually, the cops come to investigate the murders and June kills herself by leaping from a window.

The preview trailer.

I wrote back:

THANKS, Steve! I’ve been puzzling about this for YEARS until it finally occurred to me to ask my favorite expert! That movie absolutely terrified me for weeks! Thought someone was going to kill ME, and I hadn’t even kissed a girl yet!

***
Steve also went ape in tackling Prime-Apes!!! My Fave Planet of the Apes Knockoffs, such as Kamandi.

MOVIE REVIEWS: Unstoppable, and Tangled

In the very beginning of the story, Flynn talks about the day of his death; interesting, that, in the dark tradition of Disney stories.


The 2010 movie Unstoppable, which I saw with my wife on Black Friday in Oneonta in lieu of actual shopping, is a very competently made thriller about a runaway train with toxic chemicals, and the heroic efforts of a couple of railroad hands, a veteran (played by Denzel Washington) and a guy just out of training (Chris Pine, who played young James T. Kirk in the 2009 Star Trek movie) in stopping said train. It reviewed surprisingly well, especially with the top critics. My wife’s stomach was in knots most of the way through, and mine wasn’t, but I enjoyed it as a pleasant diversion. “Pleasant?” my wife wondered aloud. Jaquandor’s take on the movie pretty much nailed it.

The movie was a production of Tony Scott, who last year created the remake of The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3, which I did not see, also starring Denzel Washington; from what I read, Unstoppable is the better movie, though it has no real villain, only a particularly incompetent worker.

I’m quite interested in the fact that the movie was based on an actual incident that took place on May 15, 2001.

As described here and here, the initiation of the incident in the movie was pretty true to life, with the railroad employee (played in the movie by Ethan Suplee of My Name Is Earl) not securing the air brakes, jumping off the train to do some track switching, then unable to get back on the accelerating locomotive. This occurred, though, in Ohio, not Pennsylvania; the train (the 8888, not the 777) never got faster than 47 mph, not over 70; and by the time the event that ends the ordeal – if you read about it, I suppose it’d be a spoiler – the train’s going much slower in real life.

The single thing that I found most distracting was the too-close-to-the-action TV helicopter. Yet I did “believe” the nature of the “breaking news” reporting, and the next morning, Don Henley’s Dirty Laundry was running in my head.

The annoying thing at this particular theater is that it had four commercials BEFORE the previews, two for auto companies (Chevy and Acura), and two for personal care products, one for a body wash that was soft-core porn, and so ridiculous that most of the audience laughed in derision. (As opposed to a genuine laugh for a Johnny Depp line in the preview for the Angelina Jolie film, The Tourist.) There were also previews for the new Narnia movie and the Coen Brothers’ remake of True Grit, neither of which I’m likely to see, but the latter used a posthumously-released Johnny Cash song to good effect.

Ethan Suplee and Denzel Washington shared no screen time in Unstoppable, whereas Washington played Suplee’s high school football coach in Remember the Titans.

Disney

Sunday afternoon, I saw Tangled 3D, with my six (“six and a HALF!”)-year-old daughter at a theater within walking distance of our house. It is being billed on the screen as Disney’s 50th animated film, which seems appropriate because I’m feeling rather 50/50 about it.
+ Interesting and fresh setup for the Rapunzel story, with a psychologically mean stepmother type that worked for me
– But the story occasionally drags, especially early.
+ A couple of great Alan Mencken-Glenn Slater songs, for the Mother Gothel (Donna Murphy) character and some rowdy rogues;
– But the songs for Rapunzel, sung perfectly well by Mandy Moore, are mostly rather undistinguished.
+ Wonderful, occasionally stunning visuals, and moreover, great use of 3D, possibly the best I’ve ever seen, and I’m no big 3D fan. AT ALL.
– There is better chemistry between Rapunzel and her chameleon, or even between the lead male character, Flynn (Zachery Levi, who sings surprisingly well) and his nemesis, the horse Maximus, than between Rapunzel and Flynn.
Still, there’s enough story – plus, did I mention how great this movie looked? and probably even in 2D – to recommend it. It’s way better than the trailer suggests, that’s for certain, and better than I’ve described it, I suspect. I really did like it, as it had some excellent sequences. But I didn’t LOVE it.

BTW, my daughter remembers that in the very beginning of the story, Flynn talks about the day of his death; interesting, that, in the dark tradition of Disney stories.

This movie had about a half dozen trailers, all for animated 3D movies, including Yogi Bear (looks annoying), Cars 2, Mars Needs Moms (looks weird), and Gnomeo and Juliet; the latter had an audiovisual joke that more than one adult in the audience took as a reference to fellatio.
***
A Ken Levine post about Tangled and Leslie Nielsen jokes. Re: the latter, I was sad at his passing, as Airplane! is one of my Top 5 comedies, but I didn’t have anything to add except this: if you remember him as a serious actor, and I probably saw more than 75% of everything he was in between 1965 and 1971, his subsequent revealed humor was, if anything, even funnier.

 

Woody Allen is 75

Last month, TV writer Ken Levine wrote an open letter to Woody Allen, which suggested that Woody:
Take a break.

I have noted more than once that Annie Hall is my all-time favorite movie; moreover, it was commercially successful and critically acclaimed. Nominated for five Academy Awards for the 1977 season, it won four – Best Picture, Best Actress (Diane Keaton), Best Director (Woody Allen), Best Original Screenplay (Allen and Marshall Brickman), losing only Best Actor (Allen).

Yet, when making a list of his six best movies – ZELIG, PURPLE ROSE OF CAIRO, HUSBANDS AND WIVES, VICKY CHRISTINA BARCELONA, BULLETS OVER BROADWAY, MATCH POINT – Annie Hall was not among them. Is it unreasonable to suggest that a director is mistaken about his own films?

I saw all the movies mentioned except Match Point; I can say that Vicki Christina Barcelona clearly does NOT belong on this list. I’d be hard-pressed to actually come up with my other five on a list – Hannah and Her Sisters, and Zelig, for sure, maybe Bananas, Broadway Danny Rose, Crimes and Misdemeanors, Purple Rose of Cairo, Radio Days, or even Manhattan if the parallel with his actual life didn’t creep me out so much.

Slate takes a crack at Copy-Editing the Culture: The Rise and Fall of Woody Allen, as Experienced Through His Punctuation.

Last month, TV writer Ken Levine wrote an open letter to Woody Allen, which suggested that Woody:
Take a break.
Stop making movies.
At least for now.
Please.
It’s time.
It really really is.
An interesting discussion ensued.

Read some interviews, some recent, some historic, that delve into Woody’s mind. Also, on May 6, 1971, Johnny Carson’s guest host on The Tonight Show was Woody Allen, whose guests included Bob Hope and James Coco.

Happy birthday, Woody. No matter how much I think you’re off your game, you provided me with great cinematic pleasure for many years.

Thanksgiving DVDs

This article from the Washington Post inspired this post, but please don’t feel limited to their list.

What’s your favorite Thanksgiving film?
The Daytrippers
Pieces of April
Miracle on 34th Street
Planes, Trains and Automobiles
The Ice Storm
Home for the Holidays
Funny People

What, no Alice’s Restaurant?

For me, it’s a no-brainer; it’s Planes, Trains, and Automobiles. It’s my favorite John Candy film, and though I suppose this is sacrilege, it’s my favorite John Hughes movie as well.

What’s YOUR favorite Thanksgiving movie? I hope, for your sake, it’s not the very depressing The Ice Storm.

Watch Turkeys Away from WKRP in Cincinnati.
ROG

Social media & sharing icons powered by UltimatelySocial