bedsitter23 | Entries tagged with save us the aisle seats

I have been watching some movie musicals so here goes :

Beauty and the Beast- Growing up as a teen in the 90s, I saw the canonization of Disney’s films of that decade, but I get it, they are iconic. I am not sure why they need to make this as a live action movie, and I would say the same about The Lion King or Aladdin or the many others planned.

In any case, I don’t think this really moved the needle for me. Emma Watson was okay. I never was sure if she felt miscast, or more likely, she could not transcend what she had to work with. The dancing plates and candelabra that was so much fun in the cartoon, seem a bit sinister in translation. The story (though old as time, I believe) didn't help sell it either. In this context with all the Gothic shadows, it felt like a sanitized Phantom of the Opera. I think Disney really take chances with their music anymore (a million sold Frozen soundtracks would tell me otherwise), but it was pretty basic.

The whole film seemed just a bit pointless. Yes, beautifully shot, but even then, rather forgettable. To me, this would have been better off un(re) made. Still, I am sure I am not the intended audience. Worth mentioning, this really did not appeal to my young kids either, who would love the animated version.

The Greatest Showman -PT Barnum's greatest trick may be that he got the 21st Century into thinking he was the charismatic Hugh Jackman. This was a movie that was universally loved, and with reason. It's pretty fun.

It follows standard biopic tropes, which for me, I would love more, but that is how two hour Hollywood works. It's in there though (Jenny Lind, Tom Thumb, the Museum fire, etc). It takes liberties, maybe great liberties, but wouldn't that be what Barnum wanted. Jackman and cast are terrific, and it is a really beautiful movie. I thought the music was pretty good. Not quite Moulin Rouge for me, but still liked it enough.

Really, a great movie for everyone, even those who might not be drawn to musicals. My young kids were a bit bored by it, but I do hear slightly older kids love the pageantry. I love how it so easily flows and never drags.

Mary Poppins Returns -This sounds like a terrible idea, but it really is another really great movie. I was surprised, but it's not a remake, it is sort of a re-imagining, and actually hits the fine line of being respectful and being new.

Emily Blunt is dare I say, just a bit sexy. Her character takes Mary and brings her to the 21st Century. The cast is top notch - Colin Firth, Meryl Streep, Julie Walters, Linn-Manuel Miranda to name a few. Okay, Miranda's attempt at cockney, seemed like a misstep, but he sort of is charismatic enough to overcome it.

It was just a plain fun movie. The music is pretty standard, but has some fun moments that again, fit in with the spirit of the original. A lofty goal, indeed. It's a shame that Julie Andrews isn't here, but she did think she might upstage Blunt, and it's very neat to see Dick Van Dyke here as well as Angela Lansbury in a similar role. I thought the movie flowed well, and the integration of modern elements like animation really worked well.

Rob Marshall directed Chicago, and though that was a very different movie, he has a knack of making things work towards taking a musical and making it a Hollywood film. I really enjoyed this, and I would never have guessed.

Current Music: Iggy Pop - Free
Crossposts: https://bedsitter23.livejournal.com/1190824.html

Ready Player One - I read the book so I had to watch the film.

Being Spielberg, I had to doubly check it out. The book was great but the plot was clunky at times. Spielberg (or screenwriter Kal Penn) rights a few wrongs there. He also plays it as an action movie which of course is the right choice, but takes out some of the fun of the quest stuff. It is for the best though in that Spielberg can try some Fifth Element style visuals.

My main disagreement is that Halliday is played for laughs. Mark Rylance comes off as a low budget Dennis Hopper or Peter Fonda. I see Halliday needing to be a Jobs or Gates and even if eccentric, not a punchline. Spielberg cleans up some of the characters backstory (which is fine, Cline wasn’t particularly great at that part).

It’s an enjoyable movie but it’s hard to pinpoint while it’s not great. For one, Clines characters are fairly stereotypical. The imagery is great of course. The stacks of trailers seem instantly iconic. Perhaps, the movie like the book tried to accomplish to much. Like The Hunger Games, perhaps it is trying to be all things to all audiences. It feels like an 80s PG movie (language, mild horror and so on) and that feels like a better decision than Disneyfying it, but is it? How did Guardians of the Galaxy feel so fresh using so many of the same tropes and how exactly did it accomplish what this film can’t.

But that’s ok. In the world of $15 tickets and social media, lest we forget “Very Good “ is ok. Not everything needs to be “Great”. Captured the spirit of the book and was a fun ride.

Paddington 2- I have heard good stuff about the Paddington series but never saw the first one. The truth is the line on it is pretty accurate. It’s a rather light and fun family movie. It was just a bit slow for my 5 year old but not by much. A couple of more years and it might hit his sweet spot, though he did generally enjoy it

As an adult, it is easy to appreciate how it was done. It stays breezy but the story, though basic, is enough of a hook to keep the viewer tied in. It doesn’t hurt the actors are top notch (Did anyone notice that this film shares at least two cast members from Gangs of New York?) and so it has more of a classic feel than a disposable one.

It’s funny to me that Paddington 2 is one of, if not the, most loved films on Rotten Tomatoes. In that sense, well, it’s just a film. But that aside, I really quite enjoyed it, and ironically, it does actually stand up with more adult films. It feels more genuine to me than the similar films Disney sells. It certainly shares some of the magic of the best of the Harry Potter movies (with which it shares a producer) but keeps it simple for a memorable family experience.

Current Music: Mick Harvey & Christopher Richard Barker- The Fall And Rise Of Edgar Bourchier..
Crossposts: https://bedsitter23.livejournal.com/1160101.html

Wonder Park is a new movie from Nickelodeon.

The boys are old enough now that we thought we would venture out. We have a new cinema that boasts to be one of the best new theaters in the country. The kids cinema has a playground which allows kids to play a half hour before the movie. I grew up on drive thrus with slides and it comes full circle.

This was advertised as a goofy fast paced kids movie like The Nut Job. It isn’t. It is a pretty grown up take on imagination. The movie starts with some excitement before the disclosure that “Mom” is sick and needs to go away. It never reaches any level of fun after that.

There certainly are predecessors like The Neverending Story or Bridge to Teribitha, and so it’s probably robbed of those expectations (though this does not have those ambitions). As an adult, I actually enjoyed it quite a bit. There are some moments that are laugh out loud funny but totally are lost on kids. It is by no means a great movie, but for the right family, it might be a fun fantasy movie. In any case, I enjoyed it quite more than I thought.

That said, it really isn’t what I expected. The near-3 year old was scared. My 5 year old was more in awe of it than anything (I am ok with that). It really was a downer though, and though there’s cute animation, it probably should be catered more towards an older crowd. Indeed, history will consider this a Bomb. Which is probably unfair, since it is a better movie than that. It’s just a not good fit for its ambition

Current Music: Mark Lanegan - Whiskey for the Holy Ghost
Crossposts: https://bedsitter23.livejournal.com/1153788.html

Maybe movie reviews will be a thing, as the kids are old enough to allow for a Kids/Adults double header

Peter Rabbit- Is it wrong to like this movie? It's pretty likeable. Starts off with a nod to the Beatrix Potter story and then plays as a riff off of it. It is the bad boy protagonist a la Alvin the Chipmunk and other famous troublemakers. It is a cute story with a lot of action. It plays fine enough for adults to never become boring, even if it hits some familiar tropes. The 5 year old laughed. It played more cute than annoying (remember this was the movie that we were warned would make all of our kids bullies who make fun of those with allergies). It strangely all works. The human actors are all pretty great -led by Rose Byrne and Domnhall Geason. I thought James Corden was fine as the voice of Peter. I didn't have great expectations, but it was a pretty fine movie to split the difference in laughs and entertainment between me and my son.

Instant Family- At its heart, it is a comedy-drama about the joys and trials of foster care. This was sold as a goofball comedy, but it hardly is ever laugh out loud funny. It plays it fairly Hollywood, but I think it is a good movie. Mark Wahlberg and Rose Byrne (again) are likeable in a spot where that could be tough.Support also comes from enjoyable bit parts from Tig Notaro and Octavia Spencer and Margo Martindale in a stereotypical for these kind of movies Grandmas, but really shines at irt The show makes light of the earnestness of The Blind Side, but it follows many of the same tropes, only in this case, played for light drama and easy laughs.

Despite my expectations as one of Wahlberg's string of recent comedies, it is a good old fashioned feel good movie. Given what it is trying to do with conveying real life adoption in a two hour entertainment medium, I think it hits more right notes than anything. It flows well, is never boring, and sends off the viewer with nice sentiments at the end. Never hitting Oscar ambitions, the film hits a lot of family movie marks that it seems like a lot of recent movies have been missing.