Posts
I have not been posting nearly enough this year and I want to steer back
from that. To that end I have found a 30-day blog challenge and
fluffed it out to 31 entries (since December has 31 days). I have
done a 30-day
challenge before for movies, though that one was poorly executed (I started
it in the middle of a month, at one point I posted 2 entries on one day, it is
a mess). I did another one just this year in August on Video
Games, that one was better, go read it after this
one, all of it. Or don’t, no pressure.
Today is
day 31 and the topic is “Top 10”.
Before I start let me drop in a few
more Honorable Mentions.
Honorable Mention: “Moana”
I only saw this last night and I am
super impressed. It has elements of
other Disney movies I like but the new setting, great music, and fun
performances set this one as a cut above pretty much instantly. The only reason it is not on my list is
because I have had less than 24 hours to ruminate on it and as such can’t give
a substantive commentary on the thing.
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| The adorable piggy has far less impact on the narrative I was anticipating by his presence in the advertising. |
It is not perfect and will not be
unseating “Zootopia” from my top movie of the year spot, but I do think that if
some kid were to recall “Moana” as their first Disney movie they are starting
off on the right foot.
Honorable Mention: “Beauty and the Beast”
It is fine,
I have talked about it in context of it being a great romance and having a
great villain, but overall it just doesn’t hit me too deeply. I guess this is what happens when you talk
subjective opinions, sometimes there is no distinct element or quantifiable
reason to not like something as much as most other people.
Honorable Mention: “Brave”
I consider
this movie underrated, but not fantastic.
Much like “Mulan” from yesterday it is very GOOD, but does not stab
deeply enough to be particularly great.
Honorable Mention: “The Rocketeer”
This one is
live action and is thus out of consideration, but I watched the hell out of it
growing up. The pacing is rock solid,
the bad guy is razor sharp, and the hero and action are both daring and fun. The only reason this movie is not considered
a classic of the superhero genre is because modern Marvel productions have so
outpaced it in production values. But
for its time it is amazing. I would go
so far as to say it influenced my current love of the noir/pulp style that I
still see as an underappreciated and awesome aesthetic in movies.
Honorable Mention: “Captain America: The Winter Soldier”
This is my
favorite Marvel movie. I have talked about it before. Much like Star Wars,
Marvel was taken off the table at the start of the month. Still out.
Now on to the List. These are in no particular order, I had a few
movies I said, “Definitely, yes, yes, yes, okay, now let’s go over the list and
pick a few more, and a couple more, and a couple more” just to fill it out to a
full 20. Then I just shuffled them up.
Number 10: “Tangled”
The Plot Goes Thusly:
It is the
story of Rapunzel, a young woman kept in a high tower with hair that is long,
golden, and magical. But this iteration has
adventure, romance (substantive romance, not just, “he rescued me from the
tower” obligatory romance), and a reason for why the girl with the hair is in
the tower to begin with, that her hair is the receptacle of healing magic.
My Thoughts:
This movie is
great. Fighting with frying pans, daring
chases, and the most romantic moment in Disney according to me. It is perhaps the most conventional of the
picks I made for my Top 10, so there is not much to talk about beyond saying
that the elements you would expect from a Disney princess story came together
especially well in this one.
Number 9: “The Rescuers Down Under”
The Plot Goes Thusly:
An
international peace keeping force sends agents to Australia to stop a poacher
from murdering a young boy and destroying a giant gold eagle that is both
endangered and a fantastic set piece for the movie—it almost makes this movie
an entry in the Classic Movie Genre of “Child and Big Thing” I identified
earlier this year.
Also, the
international peace keeping force is made up of mice and this is ostensibly set
in the real world. Kind of like “Chip
and Dale: Rescue Rangers” or “The Great Mouse Detective”.
My Thoughts:
While I am
sure the “How to Train Your Dragon” series is the first that comes to mind when
picturing a child flying on a big magical animal—another entry for “Child and Big Thing”—but for me, that feeling of flying on the back of a wild animal that
an instinctive connection has been formed with came from “The Rescuers Down
Under”.
The strangest aspect of this movie is
how out of place the titular Rescuers feel.
If they had just made a movie about a young boy and his animal companion
trying to escape the clutches of a poacher in the Outback coupled with the
natural hazards and predators of that environment the movie would still hold
together, it would even be a marked improvement.
You could cut the mice and lose
very little from the story, even though they have a substantial amount of screen
time and a funny little sub-plot with good voice acting.
I actually didn’t know this was a
sequel when I saw it as a kid and when I saw the original “The Rescuers” it was
such a step down in quality I felt somehow betrayed.
Number 8: “The Great Mouse Detective”
The Plot Goes Thusly:
After a
little girl sees her father taken by a menacing figure with a peg leg she is
taken by a kindly doctor to the home of a genius detective. After displaying his penchant for being a
dangerous and moody—but high functioning—psychopath, the detective is on the
case.
While
chasing down clues and leads they are led to the menacing camp gay villain and
arch-nemesis of the detective who is out to take over the nation thru the use
of a steam punk doppelganger of the queen.
One death trap and a dramatic confrontation later the heroes return home
to find the promise of future adventures—adventures Disney apparently will
never deliver on.
Also, the characters
are all mice and this is ostensibly set in the real world. Kind of like “Chip and Dale: Rescue Rangers”
or “The Rescuers Down Under”.
My Thoughts:
I already
talked about why I like this movie extensively when I wrote the “My Favorite Male Protagonist” entry. I actually
spent more time explaining why I like the movie than I did why I like the
character. Because Basil is Sherlock
Holmes, he appeals in all the same ways to me that he does to everyone—by being
good enough at his chosen profession that he can get away with being a bastard
to everyone he meets, something we all secretly aspire to.
Number 7: “Wreck it Ralph”
The Plot Goes Thusly:
A man with
an important job that gets no respect sets out to reinvent himself seeking
accolades in other workplaces. The
unintended consequences of his actions create a crisis in multiple communities
as the problems of one start to bleed out like a plague. Ultimately he finds and confronts a lunatic
who has been usurping a position of power and causing chaos and restoring a new
found friend to her rightful place in the world.
Also he is
a video game character and this all takes place in a number of different game
machines in an arcade. There are a lot
of cameos.
My Thoughts:
The only
thing that really holds this movie back would be the number of strange rules
dictating the universe. The way
characters become refugees in other systems, the nature of extra lives in games,
the villain’s motivation, and the big monstrous plague of space alien bad guys
all seem to work via slight addendums to each other’s rules making a weird
little book of cross references. I can’t
say it makes no sense, but it gets a tad too complicated.
In general,
the positives outweigh those issues. The
character and world designs vary wildly from one another allowing for huge
variety of color, art style, and action.
Ralph and his supporting cast are fun not only in how they act
individually but in contrast with one another, the best kind of ensemble cast.
Number 6: “Toy Story 3”
The Plot Goes Thusly:
A community
must leave their home behind and find a new place to live safely and
comfortably.
They are
toys and they are being left behind by the now grown owner of them.
My Thoughts:
Number 5: “Aladdin”
The Plot Goes Thusly:
A young man
gains the ability to make all his dreams come true via the use of a magic
lamp. As his friendships grow and his
future brightens his true nature as an impoverished thief threatens to undue
all his wishing. Meanwhile a sorcerer takes
control of the lamp and causes havoc.
My Thoughts:
Number 4: “Up”
The Plot Goes Thusly:
An old man
morning his deceased wife and fearing the impending destruction of his home for
the construction of some new urban development decides to embrace his childhood
dreams and go on an adventure to honor his wife.
My Thoughts:
This movie
has a few strong elements but it also has iconic images, like a house flying
thru the air pulled by numerous balloons, a giant crazy bird, and talking dogs
flying biplanes. This whole thing holds
together as a stronger product than discussion of any individual part can illustrate. Though there are a couple of parts that stand
out amazingly well.
Number 3: “Zootopia”
The Plot Goes Thusly:
A rookie
cop works to unravel a series of mysterious instances of violence and the
government conspiracy to cover it all up.
She is aided by a conman, and via their exploration of the city’s
politics and their interactions with one another they learn to confront their
prejudices and grow as people.
The whole
thing is talking animals. That is to say
non-human animals. Cause humans are
animals.
My Thoughts:
Number 2: “The Incredibles”
The Plot Goes Thusly:
Exceptional
individuals who spent their lives saving and protecting the general population
by way of their fantastic gifts have been forced into hiding by a bunch of
bullshit lawsuits. Isn’t it always the
way of things?
One of
those individuals is trying to get back to the game of heroism via a mysterious
organization that is building killer robots in a hidden island fortress—somehow
this obvious red flag is allowed to slide.
The desire to use his gifts for what he thinks is good will imperil himself
and his family, but they will all have to come together to save the world… from
having lots of convenient gadgets?
My Thoughts:
I love
superheroes and this is one of the best superhero films ever made. The action is fantastic and varied, with
feats of strength, speed, infiltration, and a grand fight with a giant multi-limbed
robot. The humor, style, and underlying
thesis all have appeal (though I do not agree with the thesis). I consider this a damn near perfect movie, except
for the bad guy’s bizarre plan.
Let’s go a
little deeper.
Yesterday I joked about Ayn Rand
doing re-writes to “A Bug’s Life”, well… “The Incredibles” might have been
penned by her ghost. It is all about
special people being held back by a system that looks down on exceptional
people doing their best.
The bad guy, Syndrome has
inventions that can allow normal people to do fantastic things. So, instead of just selling them he wants to
use them to mock and degrade people with naturally occurring super powers? Why? I
know he is an asshole, but he does this just because he feels his superhuman
intelligence wasn’t respected enough?
I don’t really get Syndrome’s deal
when I give it a hard look. Just let it
go you dipshit. You are so wealthy as to
afford an island fortress, an army of goons, and a giant robot, while your arch
rival lives in the suburbs and works a job he hates (and can I just ask why the
government didn’t give Mr. Incredible a job in the police or other law
enforcement?) Syndrome, Buddy, you won
at life.
Number 1: “Inside Out”
The Plot Goes Thusly:
It is a
road trip thru the mind and imagination of a young girl navigating a complex
time in her life. Along the way we all
learn about the importance of being emotionally complex and nuanced individuals
instead of just trying to be happy all the time.
My Thoughts:
Much like I pointed out with “Toy
Story” yesterday, this is another story in which a big move to a new place is
the backdrop to a transitional state of mind.
The End: Disney’s Legacy
And with
that my month long Disney blog-venture (wow, that is rubbish) comes to an
end. It did its job of helping me
further push up the number of words I have written and has allowed me to flex
my critical mental muscles on things that both do and do not get enough
scrutiny.
Disney is a
company that I have complex feelings on.
On one hand they do their best to maintain a standard bearer position as
definitive Americana and a moral guardian that emphasizes self-actualization
and creativity. On the other side their
work is primarily one of modern interpretation of very old stories that they
have access to via the public domain, a legal system and creative tool that
they have done tremendous damage to via their work in protecting their
corporate IP holdings.
I see why
they want to keep “Steam Boat Willie” in the vault. But, Walt is dead, 50 years this month. His creations have become iconic parts of American
culture and by preventing those works from belonging to everyone, and by
extension allowing a single company to have this much control over the world of
animation and culture there is a danger of cultural stagnation taking place.
People only
have so much space in their minds and money in their wallets for entertainment. If a company can hold onto a piece of media indefinitely
and keep releasing its variations, they are eating up mental space and money
that could go to an original work that might not be able to get its foot in the
door. New things get crowded out. But then, many of the works I put on my list
are original properties made in the last 20 years, with special commendation
going to Pixar for this bevy of new ideas.
What do you
think? Is Disney a force for good? Or is it a force of corporate greed with good
PR? There is no wrong answer. There probably is a wrong answer, but finding
a right one would require a lot of research and several judgement calls that I
a no interested in making.
Share your
own thoughts on this in the comments.
Conversely, what are some of your
favorite Disney movies? Do you have a
top list? Do you have a blog like mine
talking about it? If so, then post a link
below.
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