Disney/Pixar | ***Dave Does the Blog

Movie Trailers before “The Marvels”

Because sometimes the trailers are the best part of the theater experience

There were fewer trailers than usual at our Regal theater prior to our Friday night premiere showing of The Marvels.

The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes: I am sure that someone thought that there was some huge audience for a Hunger Games prequel (as if “yes, this is how things got so horribly miserable, plus, character hints for the people who end up so even more miserable in the original movies!” was a winning pitch), especially given the last film was eight years ago.

It all looks appropriately post-apocalyptic, and the trailer hints at it all being terribly depressing, despite some fundamental sense that somehow, sometime in the future, virtue will prevail, kindasorta.

Seriously not my cuppa.

Migration: Something animated about birds (mostly? ducks) migrating or maybe taking a vacation, and ending up being stuck in New York City, where hilarity ensues. Looks amusing. Not planning to see in the theaters.

Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom: This trailer was interesting for the first ten seconds, until Jason Momoa stopped being onshore and started living in a CGI world under the waves. At which point it all turns into what seems like a synopsis of the entire film. I suspect I will eventually watch it, but it will not be in a movie theater.

On the bright side, this should, finally, finally, spell the end of endless articles about the far-too-delayed end of the DCEU.

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes: So I was there back when the original Apes movies were made, and they were all around the juxtaposition of humans and intelligent apes who oppressed / were oppressed by them. As far as I can tell from this trailer, it’s basically about CG apes and the rise of their civilization, and while the CG apes look to be nicely done, I have zero to no interest in what they are doing.

Wish: For all this seems to have some nifty-looking animation, the story seems like such a pastiche of other Disney films that it’s hard to get at all excited for it. There’s a young girl! Who is magically special! And there is a power figure that doesn’t like it! And danger! And cuteness! And a meta-aware talking animal!

I mean, okay, sure, it’s better than a live-action remake of Sleeping Beauty (coming to theater probably around 2027, by my guess), but there’s nothing there that feels fresh or new or intriguing.

So, net-net … nothing I feel any great urge to see, though a couple I might get around to streaming someday.

Honestly, going back over the list … I’d probably rewatch The Marvels first.

Movie trailers before “Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3”

Because the trailers are sometimes half the fun. (Though the movie was definitely a lot of fun.)

Trailers that were showing before our Friday-of-opening-weekend showing of GotG3.

Elemental – A charming-looking Disney film about anthropomorphic figures who live in a fascinating city and society that resembles our own, but cunningly adapted to the traits of its denizens, who must learn to live in harmony and perhaps, even, love. Which, if it sounds a lot like Zootopia, that’s the reaction I have every time I see the trailer, which is cute, but not enough to really motivate me.
The Flash – You might be confused if you thought this was a Batman movie at first. Or … multiple Batmans. Batmen. Or maybe Superman, er, Superwoman. Fighting Zod. Oh, yeah, the Flash is in there, too, and supposedly it’s his movie. Oh, and there’s a bunch of Flashpoint stuff in here, too, the series that really screwed up the DCU and the Flash, and which Warner Bros. hopes will unscrew-up the DCEU, or whatever they are calling their movies these days. Also, Flashpoint was done on the Flash TV series, and a number of DC animated movies, and can we please move on from this storyline? Unlikely to go to this, even without considering the Ezra Miller drama.
Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes – I’m not sure who thought the idea of a HG prequel was a good one, and whether they are any more clueless than whoever thought this was a title that would attract an audience. This is the movie I am least likely to see this year.
Fast X – If this were a series I watched, I would probably be highly interested in it. As it is not, I am not. At all.
Dune, Part 2 – I have heard plenty of admiring things about the first one, except that it all seemed to be a setup for the second one. So maybe once the dust settles on the second one, I’ll do a Dune-a-thon weekend with the two new movies, the classic Lynch, and the Syfy mini-series. Or maybe not.
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny – I am seriously jonesing (ha!) to see this. Yes, I was burned by the The Kingdom of the Glass Skull (which, to be fair, had a much better title than this one), but the Indy series is clearly in a “odd movies good, even movies bad” cycle, so we should be due for a final hit.
The Marvels – The most predictable trailer for the set (hello, MCU!), but, y’know, I am so there for this. I like the three title characters, I like the quantum entanglement that gives them an immediate problem to resolve, and I like that we don’t know much more than that right now. Plus I want this to succeed to spite the fanboiz who hate these three characters for a variety of disturbing reasons.

So … 2 out of 7. Not great, but not all that bad.

Trailers before “Eternals”

A couple of things I’m interested in, plus an annoying non-movie advert.

I always fine fascinating the question of what’s advertising before which film.

House of Gucci — Gee, a shame they couldn’t find any decent names for this film. But seriously, this is definitely a movie I will not be seeing, but I very much look forward to reading all the articles about it and the story behind it.
Clifford the Big Red Dog — I will likely not go because it is waaaaay too cute, but it looks like a great film for the kids. Even if it doesn’t have The Song.
Morbius — Never one of my go-tos in Spider-Man’s rogues gallery, but this looks nicely dark and creepy. Unlikely to go, as it’s not my wife’s cuppa, but it’s definitely a fresh, horror-tinged leaning into that tormented anti-hero vibe. Better than, alas …
The Batman — I confess I am sooooooo tired of Batman as tormented, anti-hero, insane, vengeance machine, out-grim-grittying-teeth-grinding each previous version in some weird attempt to turn him into an actual villain. Frankly, I think the trend has been out of control since Batman: The Animated Series wrapped up. So, no, I don’t think I’ll be going.
Sing 2 — I did not see the first one, but, damn, if this ad doesn’t make me want to see this one.
[Regal Theaters … why the hell is there a freaking crypto.com commercial in the middle of my movie previews? Also, “Fortune Favors the Brave” is not an investment strategy, no matter how buff Matt Damon looks.]
The King’s Man — Same ad as we saw last going. Looks fun, more so than the original Millar outing.
Encanto — I feel a bit like I am seeing the entire movie, bit by bit, as Disney keeps revising the commercials. But … I will still probably go, because it looks soooooo good.

2020 In Review: Movies

A look back at what I watched this year.

We watched a lot more movies this year than usual — though only one in a movie theater. That was due to the pandemic lockdown, indirectly — that we had the Boy home with us from college after mid-March, as well as my mom living with us for a number of months early in the pandemic, meant lots of opportunities and impetus to watch stuff, whether streaming or on disc.

Looking through my Letterboxd diary, I have 57 entries for the year (compared to 33 in 2019). Of those 57, 45 were rewatches of something I’d seen before, sometimes recently. 44 were flagged with a “♥”; 13 were not.

Let’s look at the best and worst (subjective). The links are to my Letterboxd review for each flick.

Films I watched that I rated lowest:

Films I watched that I rated highest:

Agatha Christie’s Poirot: Murder on the Orient Express (2010) ♥
Julius Caesar (1953) ♥
The Avengers (2012) (twice!) ♥
Coco (2017) ♥
Good Omens (2019) ♥
1776 (1972) ♥
Hamilton (2020) ♥
Moana (2016) ♥
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) (twice!) ♥
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) (twice!) ♥
Zootopia (2016) ♥

Oldest Movie Watched: The Thin Man (1934) ♥

Only Movie Actually Watched in a Movie Theater: Birds of Prey (2020) ♥

The Mouse vs “The Mouse Guard”

Disney has canceled Fox’s “Mouse Guard” adaptation

While there’s been plenty of nerd glee over Disney’s acquisition of Fox’s movie properties — X-Men and FF in the MCU, huzzah! — it’s not all good news.

Disney has canceled Fox’s adaptation of the fantastic comic series, The Mouse Guard, only weeks before it was to begin production. The movie, which had lined up the voice talents Idris Elba, Andy Serkis, and a number of other noteworthies, was considered to not quite fit into either Disney’s portfolio or where they intend to move the Fox studios line to (more PG-13 and R-rated films).

The Mouse Guard is referred to as “Game of Thrones with mice,” which is about 60% inaccurate. It is an extended saga of tribes of forest creatures with varying levels of medieval technology, focused primarily on the extended realm of field mice and the elite guard that serves as rangers, protectors, and warriors. Written and drawn by David Petersen, it’s beautifully illustrated stuff, with some strong story lines, and I was very much looking forward to what they were going to do with it in a feature film.

While unfortunate, Disney is letting the producers shop the property around, and some other studios have expressed an interest. So, like the doughty mice of its story, it’s Not Dead Yet.

Do you want to know more? Disney Cancels Mouse Guard, Starring Idris Elba and Andy Serkis

So, tell me again why we have a new kinda-live-action “Lion King”?

Besides the obvious.

That is, besides the fact that it will make Disney massive amounts of money. Which I don’t begrudge them because, well, they’re making something that people will spend money on because they want it.

I just don’t quite get it myself. I like the original just fine. The trailer shows some (mostly) very impressive CG, and looks to be a faithful rendition of the “original,” but … nothing that makes me want to shell out theater prices. Or, honestly, even video prices. Maybe, at some point, streaming prices, but nowhere near the top of my list.

I guess what I’d like to see with these live-action remakes, if not a shot-for-shot of the original (purely from a technical perspective), is something that actually reshapes the story along the way. Gives it a new perspective. Alters the tone, or the focal lesson, something. Justifies a remake artistically, not just financially.

That’s likely the last thing Disney would ever do, because changing things artistically would possibly endanger that financially part of the equation. It would just make me feel better.

Still, pretty. They’re still struggling with having animals “talk” in a consistently non-uncanny-valley fashion, but pretty.

Movies in the Air

International travel is a time when I get to actually catch up on movies that I missed or couldn’t bring myself to spend money on watching previously. At least that’s what I like to do after the inflight entertainment system reboots …

On our Delta flights to / from Europe, here’s what I watched. (Scores are out of ★★★★★; links are to longer reviews on Letterboxd)

A Wrinkle in Time (2018) ★★½
Glitzy adaptation that falters the more it strays from the source book.
https://letterboxd.com/three_star_dave/film/a-wrinkle-in-time-2018/

Inside Out (2015) ★★★★½ with a ♥
A truly delightful Pixar psychocomedy that I’m kicking myself for not having seen before.
https://letterboxd.com/three_star_dave/film/inside-out-2015/

Batman and Harley Quinn (2017) ★★½
Why Batman: The Animated Series needed the network to keep them from going down a self-indulgent rabbit hole, apparently.
https://letterboxd.com/three_star_dave/film/batman-and-harley-quinn/

Darkest Hour (2017) ★★★★ with a ♥
Remarkable if sometimes uneven biopic about Churchill at the start of WW2.
https://letterboxd.com/three_star_dave/film/darkest-hour/

Thor: Ragnarok (2017) ★★★★ with a ♥
Rewatch. Still funny. Still sometimes too funny for its own good.
https://letterboxd.com/three_star_dave/film/thor-ragnarok/1/

The Jungle Book (2016) ★★★
I was far less charmed than most people, it seems.
https://letterboxd.com/three_star_dave/film/the-jungle-book-2016/

Game Night (2018) ★★★½ with a ♥
Far funnier than it ought to have been. Frothy fun.
https://letterboxd.com/three_star_dave/film/game-night/

Tomb Raider (2018) ★★★½
Run, Lara, run! A good, if humorless and increasingly improbable, adventure.
https://letterboxd.com/three_star_dave/film/tomb-raider/

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Happy 30th Birthday to "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?"

A cool article about the movie and about how groundbreaking Bob Hoskins' acting as Eddie Valiant was.

Bob Hoskins Invented the Modern Blockbuster Performance in ‘Who Framed Roger Rabbit’
Robert Zemeckis’ 1988 masterpiece turns 30, and Bob Hoskins in Who Framed Roger Rabbit pinpoints the exact creation of modern Hollywood acting.

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Movie Trailers before “Incredibles 2”

So here’s what various companies thought were the movies that would appeal to Incredibles 2 movie-goers.

Smallfoot — Humorous romp about when a human (a “smallfoot”) ends up amongst a tribe of Yeti, from their perspective. Looks amusing, but not enough to get me to a movie theater.

Hotel Transylvania 3 — Every one of these movies has had me rolling my eyes in the trailers, and I’ve always found them damned funny in the actual watching. So … probably not a theater experience, but I expect I’ll watch this (with +James Hill) sooner or later.

Dog Days — The Heart-Warming / Feel-Good Movie of whenever it comes out. Doggers! A big glurgey for my taste.

Bumblebee — Okay, at long last, a Transformers movie that doesn’t make me want to punch someone in the throat. That’s … about all I can say.

Lego Movie 2 — Lego Meets Mad Max, with space aliens. Looks very fun. I should probably go see it. And the first one, too.

How to Tame Your Dragon 3 — Looks like a good adventure. I should go see it. I should rewatch the first one and watch the second one, too.

Ant-Man and the Wasp — Still looking good. Still feeling excited.

Wreck-It Ralph 2 — Wow. That’s a lot of unabashed brand placement. To be fair, it’s nice to see a fantasy about the Internet being grounded that way. Also, this looks like a funny movie. I should rewatch the first one, and go see this one.

So, lots of sequels and spin-offs, and a fair number that I have an interest in seeing, sooner or later. Not bad.

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Incredibles 2

So. #Incredibles2 was worth the wait.

— Dave Hill (@Three_Star_Dave) June 16, 2018

So. #Incredibles2 was worth the wait.

No-Spoiler Movie Review: “Incredibles 2” (2018)

Our family is big fans of the original Incredibles movie. After a 14-year wait, can even Brad Bird and Pixar give us something that could live up to expectations?

In short? It was worth the wait.

1. The movie, plot-wise, manages to echo the original’s themes (family, family roles, supers in society) in a way that expands on them, not repeating them.

2. The artwork / animation is also clearly an evolution from the original — nothing radical, but with a lovely increase in detail and texture. This is a successor, but with 14 years of improvement in CG animation.

3. As with the art, the story, too, is more finely textured than the original. It’s a more complicated tale, with many more characters to work with. And yet it still works, and remains understandable. The complexity doesn’t lose the core of the story — this very special family and their friends and their dreams of both normalcy and greatness.

I’m very impressed, because there are so many ways this could have gone wrong — a repeat of the original, or shooting off in an odd or different direction, or (the fatal flaw of so many sequels) an exaggeration of the “best” parts of the original (cranking those elements up to 11, and discarding the rest).

Bird and Pixar have managed to avoid all of that. This could have actually worked as the first movie in a series. Good stuff.

4. As I mentioned, there is a raft of new characters, and we get just enough detail from enough of them to make them feel fleshed out. That, too, is a delicate balancing act, and one that works.

5. The movie is much more real-world in its setting than the original’s focus on Nomanisan Island. And it’s beautifully done, with a dazzling modern take on Mid-Century Modern style.

6. In some very real ways, Frozone is the most demonstrably bad-ass character in the movie. At the same time, I am very ready to meet his wife, Honey.

7. There is some remarkable heroism in this movie. There’s one that comes up late in the film that I won’t detail, but that was noteworthy in its difference from the original.

8. There are some media properties used as background — again, some fine representations of mid-century aesthetic — that I very much appreciate.

9. We saw the movie in 3-D. I was intentional about this, because I thought that the style would make good use of that third dimension, and it did. I’m sure it’s also fine in 2-D, but 3-D was quite nice.

10. There is no end-of-titles tag scene, but not only are the credits nicely enhanced all through, but there are some musical elements late in the credits that are definitely worth sitting there for.

Excellent movie. Very glad we went.

. . .

Okay, the elephant in the room: Did I like it better than the original?

Nope. But I like it nearly as much, and I could see resetting that conclusion upward in a few years, after I’ve had a chance to see it several more time.

In Album 6/16/18

Original Post

Waiting for the “Incredibles”

Tickets bought for this weekend. Definitely eager to see Incredibles 2.

(This HT is for the original, but it whet my appetite still more.)

Original Post

Be a Dunedain!

A lovely mash-up of Lord of the Rings and Mulan.

Original Post

“Christopher Robin” – The Trailer

I’m not sure if this looks cloyingly saccharine or possibly profound. That it’s Disney means it could be both.

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Why Trump’s lawyers don’t want him to meet with Mueller

They’re afraid the Special Counsel will get him monologuing, like any other super-villain.

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Movie Trailers before “Avengers: Infinity War”

— Mission Impossible: Fallout — I love it that the MI series is getting so meta that the fact that Ethan keeps being betrayed by his own country isn’t seen as a weakness in the series, but as a new plot point to exploit. Those who like MI films (which I admit I kind of do) will find this the sort of thing they like (whether or not they go to see it in a theater).

— The Meg — It’s Jaws, with a bigger CG budget, as a prehistoric giant shark does just what you would expect it to do with an underwater lab and a beach community. Ho-hum.

— Adrift — I kept waiting for the prehistoric giant shark to eat the sailboat that the beautiful young couple are stranded on in the middle of the Pacific. Based on a true story (sans giant shark). Not my cuppa.

— Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom — Those who like the Jurassic movies will likely enjoy this. The previous trailers made it look like it was about rescuing dinosaurs from the island (which has abruptly gone all volcanic). The new trailer indicates that things are a bit more sinister than that.

— Venom — I have never been a fan of Venom in the comics, but this looks pretty good. The trailer gave enough story to hook me without telling the whole movie. I suspect this is one I’ll stream eventually.

— Incredibles 2 — I’ve already seen this trailer, but it remains good-looking. I am hopeful it will match the original.

— Solo — Same trailer as before, but I’m still liking it. The actor does look a bit “prettier” than Harrison Ford, but I’m willing to put up with that.

So seven trailer, with just the last two likely theater revisits. Not bad.

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The “Incredibles 2” Official Trailer

The good:

The Incredibles!
It looks like they’ve successfully spanned the difference between the CG of the original and the stuff that can be done today. It looks very nice, but also clearly an Incredibles movie.
More Elastigirl! Woot!

The problematic:

I didn’t see anything that really surprised me. Family sitcom, in both situation and comedy. Granted, it’s a short little trailer, and I really don’t want massive spoilers. But I’ve been worried about what they’ll do here, and the answer seems to be “When the wife gets the big important job and the husband has to stay home to watch the kids, hilarity ensues!” — and while that can (and, from the look of things, will) be funny, it’s also not exactly ground-breaking.

Not that anything is going to keep me out of the theaters the weekend of June 15th, but I’m not feeling quite as optimistic as I’d like.

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Movie Re-Review: “The Incredibles” (2004)

There’s so much about this movie that I love, but most of all its focus on a husband and wife who, yeah, do have some problems, but who help each other get past them. Bob and Helen Parr are both great superheroes, and they need each other (with a little help from their friends) to see that.

Full review

Rating: ★★★★½ (with a ♥)

I have a lot of trepidation about the sequel coming later this year. It’s hard to follow up adequately (and a decade-and-a-half later) to something so good on its own.

Definitely one of my desert island flicks.

A ★★★★½ review of The Incredibles (2004)
A fine family movie (about a family!) to watch on a wedding anniversary, and one that’s definitely on my desert island list. What I appreciate more and more each time is how Bob and Helen do (and don’t) work together as a couple, how both of them get opportunities to shine, to be right, to be wrong. This is not a film about a guy whose shrewish wife is holding him back. It’s not a film about a woman who struggles to keep her family together in th…

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The US Public Domain floodgates prepare to open

It’s hard to believe that the major media companies will actually let things start sliding into the public domain again on 1 January 2019. But is there any desire or will in Congress to protect Big Media right now? (This may be the sole tarnished silver lining of having the GOP in charge, given that the Dems have tended to be more Big Media-friendly.)

Here’s hoping the past starts being accessible again.

A Mass of Copyrighted Works Will Soon Enter the Public Domain – The Atlantic
For the first time in two decades, a huge number of books, films, and other works will escape U.S. copyright law.

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The “Star Wars Rebels” Finale

[No spoilers, I hope, but I can’t speak for the comments.]

The kid and I watched the final six episodes of Star Wars Rebels last night, which were tremendously fine, lots of fun, wrapped up a ton of plot points, set up some new ones for a future David Filoni production, and revealed the secret behind the voice of Chopper.

All in all, good stuff.

The finale episode … Some Q&A: … Rebels Recon (with an interview of Filoni)

When Rebels started up (in the premature ashes of Clone Wars), I enjoyed it but was a bit disappointed for the narrower scope, the focus on the kid, the apparent Disneyfication of the tale. But even if that was an accurate description at the time, the saga grew substantially over the years into something really, really cool, pulling in elements from Clone Wars (and other bits of Star Wars lore) and making a something quite enjoyable.

I’ll miss it, but I’m glad it had an awesome wrap-up.

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