Disney's new Tangled starts off a little slow, and finishes a overly predictably, and has pretty much exactly the plot you would expect. But it is told so very, very well. This movie has mastered the running gag. There are several and they are all very funny. But this is only the beginning of Tangled's brilliance.
All of its brilliance is in the humor. It is filled with dry wit and physical humor to satisfy anyone but the grouchy lady who sat in front of me and demanded that I shut up my laughter. She was funny too. If the movie had stuck there, it would have been straight through brilliant. But, it doesn't. It falters once or twice when it tries to be sincerely romantic. It fails worse than a pick-up line on a park bench.
Tangled is a movie designed to resurrect the Disney princess in the age of computer animation and pre-teen puberty. It takes a little from Shrek, a little from How to Train Your Dragon, and doesn't quite measure up to either. Though it is a little funnier than Mike Myers' movie, it wont have the replay value. It's linage, while supplying some very choice jokes, is the greatest detraction from an otherwise wonderful film. It holds it back. Rapunzel will join Belle and Cinderella among Disney's best, but will likewise be remembered as just a princess with scarily large eyes.
But it is very, very Funny. "Hilarious". If that is what you are here for, you will not be disappointed.
Short Analysis:
In the very end, they had a good joke. It wasn't a great joke. It is a somewhat old joke. But I was disappointed that they killed it. It ends with the same narration that begins the movie, that of the hero-man Eugene. And he says that, after asking and asking him to marry her, he finally says yes to Rapunzel. Ha ha. But immediately re-establishes the expected norm by saying, no, he did actually ask her.
What a pisser.
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Lilo and Stitch (2002 movie)
Lilo and Stitch looked to me, through the last 8 years, to be a fairly basic movie with an odd little alien gremlin thing in it. So a Disney movie with a gremlin. Disney does make a lot of good movies, always has, but rarely are their movies very spectacular. This particular movie does unique visual style, and I did hear a lot of good things about it, but Disney is best at presentation so that didn't mean much.
My skepticism wasn't unfounded, but I should have seen it a long time ago. Lilo and Stitch is a "Very Good" movie. I would go so far as to say it is one of the best movies Disney has ever made. It does suffer from some of the problems inherent in being a Disney movie (enough sap to sting my cavities) but the film is still new enough and deep enough to stand on its own as a pretty brilliant flick. It has it's own style, a good starting point, but what really sells the movie is the sense of humor. It reminded me a little of The Iron Giant.
The humor is just the beginning and the end of what makes this a great movie. The characters which populate the environment are dynamic and engaging with some realistic problems to deal with. And they navigate these problems as they should. But despite being a little dismal in plot, Lilo and Stitch manages to tell the story in a very fun and engaging way. The plot is tightly woven with patterns that re-enforce each other but aren't just echos rebounding off of each other. The film is done an injustice by its ending, but it's hard to blame anyone for that. No one can get a good ending now-a-days, not even the famous Harry Potter (epilogues suck). But it ties up well enough that I am very disappointed there are sequels.
The final bow on this package is the music. Unfortunately, it is a little peripheral. No one bothered to integrate it, as music was in much older movies. But it makes a beautiful bow. It is worth unwrapping this package just to listen to it.
My skepticism wasn't unfounded, but I should have seen it a long time ago. Lilo and Stitch is a "Very Good" movie. I would go so far as to say it is one of the best movies Disney has ever made. It does suffer from some of the problems inherent in being a Disney movie (enough sap to sting my cavities) but the film is still new enough and deep enough to stand on its own as a pretty brilliant flick. It has it's own style, a good starting point, but what really sells the movie is the sense of humor. It reminded me a little of The Iron Giant.
The humor is just the beginning and the end of what makes this a great movie. The characters which populate the environment are dynamic and engaging with some realistic problems to deal with. And they navigate these problems as they should. But despite being a little dismal in plot, Lilo and Stitch manages to tell the story in a very fun and engaging way. The plot is tightly woven with patterns that re-enforce each other but aren't just echos rebounding off of each other. The film is done an injustice by its ending, but it's hard to blame anyone for that. No one can get a good ending now-a-days, not even the famous Harry Potter (epilogues suck). But it ties up well enough that I am very disappointed there are sequels.
The final bow on this package is the music. Unfortunately, it is a little peripheral. No one bothered to integrate it, as music was in much older movies. But it makes a beautiful bow. It is worth unwrapping this package just to listen to it.
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Bug (2006 movie)
As the director points out, one doesn't really know where the plot of Bug is going if they haven't seen it before. It is creepy, dark, twisted, sometimes humorous, sick, demented, erotic, paranoid, and schizophrenic film. And it raises more questions than it ever answers. Stuff happens, and you never can quite tell why or exactly what it was, even by the end.
As impressive as that is, I didn't enjoy my time with it, per se; but I sorta almost like it. It is a good movie, I suppose it would be hard to dispute that. Despite the fact that I thought I was watching some amateur, low-brow horror in the beginning. That sense gradually disappears into something else. Very else.
To give you a sense of what you are getting into if you decide to try out the trip that is Bug, this is the same well-respected Hollywood director who created The Exorcist and The French Connection. I haven't seen the latter, but there are some similarities to the former that I can see now that I know. He is an older director and this movie doesn't really fit it with the current film-making style in Hollywood; especially featuring big name actors like Ashley Judd and Harry Connick Jr.. It has more similarities with contemporary plays or '70s film making.
The acting in the film is very good. I can appreciate that now. In the beginning, I thought it was some cheese-ball movie, as I said, but the characters flesh out into something quite dynamic. Almost too dynamic. But as everyone is bleeding crazy, it all still makes sense. This could be seen as a cop-out, crazy people are easy. Generally. In drama, it is probably a little more difficult. There is still a thin line to straddle, the character shouldn't be so extreme they turn the audience away, but still be unique. Considering Bug's usual review, they seem to have done that, however.
The sound in the movie is requisitely creepy to keep a very paranoid movie "Paranoid". If you like a good psycological thriller, Bug may be your bag.
As impressive as that is, I didn't enjoy my time with it, per se; but I sorta almost like it. It is a good movie, I suppose it would be hard to dispute that. Despite the fact that I thought I was watching some amateur, low-brow horror in the beginning. That sense gradually disappears into something else. Very else.
To give you a sense of what you are getting into if you decide to try out the trip that is Bug, this is the same well-respected Hollywood director who created The Exorcist and The French Connection. I haven't seen the latter, but there are some similarities to the former that I can see now that I know. He is an older director and this movie doesn't really fit it with the current film-making style in Hollywood; especially featuring big name actors like Ashley Judd and Harry Connick Jr.. It has more similarities with contemporary plays or '70s film making.
The acting in the film is very good. I can appreciate that now. In the beginning, I thought it was some cheese-ball movie, as I said, but the characters flesh out into something quite dynamic. Almost too dynamic. But as everyone is bleeding crazy, it all still makes sense. This could be seen as a cop-out, crazy people are easy. Generally. In drama, it is probably a little more difficult. There is still a thin line to straddle, the character shouldn't be so extreme they turn the audience away, but still be unique. Considering Bug's usual review, they seem to have done that, however.
The sound in the movie is requisitely creepy to keep a very paranoid movie "Paranoid". If you like a good psycological thriller, Bug may be your bag.
Monday, November 22, 2010
Life of Brian (1979, rewatched)
I love Monty Python. I find them hilarious. And while the Life of Brian isn't as out-loud laughably funny as their Quest for the Holy Grail, it has some very funny scenes and the best ending of a Monty Python feature! Hell, most any movie.
Life of Brian almost stands as one continuous story, it's less sketchy than their other films (and their show, of course) and the 'sketches' more like actual 'scenes'. This is unique for Monty Python and I like it. But the troupe is obviously not very used to the idea. It's a great movie, with wonderful quotable moments, but less of them than the Holy Grail.
Life of Brian almost stands as one continuous story, it's less sketchy than their other films (and their show, of course) and the 'sketches' more like actual 'scenes'. This is unique for Monty Python and I like it. But the troupe is obviously not very used to the idea. It's a great movie, with wonderful quotable moments, but less of them than the Holy Grail.
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
At Work
Today at work, we had a problem.
I work at a nursing home serving people food. We try to keep track of how much everyone eats ('try' being used about as loosely as possible. We actually just inconvenience ourselves with utterly useless data collection. The only thing it really tells us is if someone was in the dining room that day.) using a little hand-held touch screen device.
That runs Windows.
Consequently, it doesn't hardly work most of the time. While all you put in is: 'they ate 100% of their meal', one choice out of about ten, it takes a surprisingly long time from pushing a virtual button on the screen and any effect taking place. Anywhere from 2 to 10 seconds. Which may not seem like much, but imagine if it took ten seconds from when you struck the "q" key and a q actually appearing on the screen. The amount of data is incredibly small, but for some reason, this little "shit pad" (as it is affectionately known among the staff) can't quite handle it. It takes several minutes for this tiny file of around 40 residents to actually transfer to the computer. Sometimes, it doesn't.
I would wonder why it has so much trouble if it weren't for that multi-colored window logo. But as that graces the front of the device, that question is answered. A question that has not be sufficiently answered is why Windows hasn't been fired. If my performance were so dismal, they wouldn't keep me on, I am sure of it. You can only show up to work late so often, especially if you live there.
Another topic with computers:
I attend Western State College of Colorado. But I need a new computer password.
I looked, but I couldn't find the page that allows one to change this basic thing. Most commercial web-sites have it fairly close to the front where it is easy to find.
But I couldn't find it. I decided to try the web-sites search feature, even though those rarely work.
This is what I was given:
I have to ask myself, since there isn't anyone else near, what the hell is GUAPSWDLKLEK? Looks like a bunch of pointless letters to me. It doesn't mean anything. At all.
Why oh why are so many people obsessed with acronyms! They only de-stable communication! WTF!
I still cannot find where to change my bloody password.... I see nothing labled as a "General Menu". "General Financial Aid", but not "General Menu" and I doubt it is under the "Financial Aid" tab.
...Unless they're a little more crazy than I thought...
Nor do I see "My Links". Anywhere. If you search for that phrase, the only thing that comes up that has to do with the web-site is a page called: "How do I change my Banner password?"
But we've already seen how useless that page is. These pages apparently don't exist.
Perhaps I can't change my password. It will forever be something like: Lkailn(0879eokNOJ,ljd092wnjolkdn. Which I can't remember.
Oh well. I guess I'll just cary a piece of paper around with me. Because that's really secure.
I work at a nursing home serving people food. We try to keep track of how much everyone eats ('try' being used about as loosely as possible. We actually just inconvenience ourselves with utterly useless data collection. The only thing it really tells us is if someone was in the dining room that day.) using a little hand-held touch screen device.
That runs Windows.
Consequently, it doesn't hardly work most of the time. While all you put in is: 'they ate 100% of their meal', one choice out of about ten, it takes a surprisingly long time from pushing a virtual button on the screen and any effect taking place. Anywhere from 2 to 10 seconds. Which may not seem like much, but imagine if it took ten seconds from when you struck the "q" key and a q actually appearing on the screen. The amount of data is incredibly small, but for some reason, this little "shit pad" (as it is affectionately known among the staff) can't quite handle it. It takes several minutes for this tiny file of around 40 residents to actually transfer to the computer. Sometimes, it doesn't.
I would wonder why it has so much trouble if it weren't for that multi-colored window logo. But as that graces the front of the device, that question is answered. A question that has not be sufficiently answered is why Windows hasn't been fired. If my performance were so dismal, they wouldn't keep me on, I am sure of it. You can only show up to work late so often, especially if you live there.
Another topic with computers:
I attend Western State College of Colorado. But I need a new computer password.
I looked, but I couldn't find the page that allows one to change this basic thing. Most commercial web-sites have it fairly close to the front where it is easy to find.
But I couldn't find it. I decided to try the web-sites search feature, even though those rarely work.
This is what I was given:
How do I change my Banner password?
You can change your BANNER password from the My Links section of General Menu. You can also change it by using the BANNER form GUAPSWD. Type your current BANNER password (leave the database box blank), then type a new password, and verify your new password.
I have to ask myself, since there isn't anyone else near, what the hell is GUAPSWDLKLEK? Looks like a bunch of pointless letters to me. It doesn't mean anything. At all.
Why oh why are so many people obsessed with acronyms! They only de-stable communication! WTF!
I still cannot find where to change my bloody password.... I see nothing labled as a "General Menu". "General Financial Aid", but not "General Menu" and I doubt it is under the "Financial Aid" tab.
...Unless they're a little more crazy than I thought...
Nor do I see "My Links". Anywhere. If you search for that phrase, the only thing that comes up that has to do with the web-site is a page called: "How do I change my Banner password?"
But we've already seen how useless that page is. These pages apparently don't exist.
Perhaps I can't change my password. It will forever be something like: Lkailn(0879eokNOJ,ljd092wnjolkdn. Which I can't remember.
Oh well. I guess I'll just cary a piece of paper around with me. Because that's really secure.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)