Still no Hobbit
#85: Frozen - Walt Disney animation's adaptation of "The Snow Queen", in which two sisters break the ice and there is singing. [ME (all the site summaries I checked were dumber than that)]
"The Snow Queen" is my longtime favorite classic fairy tale, one I always wanted to see get a movie treatment, though I never had high expectations that it would, or if it did, that it would remain anywhere close to the original. Since it was clear once they went into actual development that it would indeed be a very loose adaptation, I got over that long before this weekend.
They did keep the one thing that was my very favorite part of the story: that it's the little girl who goes on the adventure and rescues her friend. That it became, in the movie, a story about two sisters saving each other also plays into my interests rather directly. Add in Idina Menzel and I was well-positioned to enjoy it, and generally, I did. The story felt original, it made me laugh out loud a lot, and it was beautifully animated (lazy character design notwitstanding). Elsa creating her castle was an iconic scene on the level of Beauty and the Beast's ballroom scene (hence, icon). In fact, everything about Elsa was great. She is my queen and I think if I were, you know, a third of my current age, I would have an obsession.
The snowman was funnier than it had any right to be, the reindeer was much less dog-adjacent than the teaser implied, and the dudes were pretty good, too, though poor Groff's voice was criminally underused. Also, I don't think I knew that Kristen Bell could sing, but IMDB tells me I should have.
While I generally enjoyed it, I felt like there was a lot of room for it to be better. In checking off the boxes, they missed some chances to focus that I think would have improved it. If I were playing director, I would have gone deeper on two things:
1) Elsa. ElsaElsaElsa. I read that originally, she was going to be a straight-up villain (which would have been closer to the fairy tale), but once they got into her, they discovered she's actually a sympathetic character and changed everything. That was a great start, but I would have liked to see more prologue, more of her side when they were kids and she was shut in, yet expected to someday rule the kingdom. When she sings "Let It Go," it's a hugely triumphant moment, but I wanted it to be an even bigger payoff.
Anything that was more about the sisters would have satisfied me, but in the imaginary world where I have powers, I would have approached it from the Elsa angle. Also because I <3 her.
2) I would have made the trolls more than a plot device. They pop up twice in the movie and are ultimately not that memorable, despite getting a big number. I liked the idea of them a lot, and I would have made them more connected to the story and the setting, instead of plopped in. I wanted more of a mythological, elemental feeling from them, similar to the feeling you get in Brave. I think it would have deepened the connection between the people and nature.
Now that I have armchaired this movie to death, I'm going to listen to "Let It Go" on repeat ten times or so.
#86: Nebraska - An aging, booze-addled father makes the trip from Montana to Nebraska with his estranged son in order to claim a million dollar Mega Sweepstakes Marketing prize. [imdb]
Early trailers for this movie seemed decent but maybe not a must-see, and then it started appearing on Lists, so of course I had to go. I'm glad I did; it's one of my most pleasant surprises of the year. It was touching and funny, but not hamfisted. It blossomed delicately into something not necessarily beautiful, but fascinating and honest. I think it's one of the best scripts put on major screens this year.
The cast is just lovely; they felt like a real family that is at times so very tired of one another and going through the motions out of obligation, but still instinctively and solidly united against outside threats. Will Forte surprises with his nuance, June Squibb is hysterical, and Bruce Dern marches solidly towards worthy nomination status.
(It made me miss my grandpa in a lot of places, despite having absolutely nothing in common with him.)
What I liked best about this movie is that for all that it shows things ugly and bleak, the core is of love and beautiful things in human nature. It achieves everything it tries to be with perfection.
I'm tracking pretty well on the awards season scorecards, mostly pending things that haven't come out yet Upcoming things I'm looking forward to most: Inside Llewyn Davis, Her, Labor Day (and Hobbit but that is out). I have to convince myself somehow to see All Is Lost, or I'm going to miss a lot of categories this year. Damn you, Redford.
"The Snow Queen" is my longtime favorite classic fairy tale, one I always wanted to see get a movie treatment, though I never had high expectations that it would, or if it did, that it would remain anywhere close to the original. Since it was clear once they went into actual development that it would indeed be a very loose adaptation, I got over that long before this weekend.
They did keep the one thing that was my very favorite part of the story: that it's the little girl who goes on the adventure and rescues her friend. That it became, in the movie, a story about two sisters saving each other also plays into my interests rather directly. Add in Idina Menzel and I was well-positioned to enjoy it, and generally, I did. The story felt original, it made me laugh out loud a lot, and it was beautifully animated (lazy character design notwitstanding). Elsa creating her castle was an iconic scene on the level of Beauty and the Beast's ballroom scene (hence, icon). In fact, everything about Elsa was great. She is my queen and I think if I were, you know, a third of my current age, I would have an obsession.
The snowman was funnier than it had any right to be, the reindeer was much less dog-adjacent than the teaser implied, and the dudes were pretty good, too, though poor Groff's voice was criminally underused. Also, I don't think I knew that Kristen Bell could sing, but IMDB tells me I should have.
While I generally enjoyed it, I felt like there was a lot of room for it to be better. In checking off the boxes, they missed some chances to focus that I think would have improved it. If I were playing director, I would have gone deeper on two things:
1) Elsa. ElsaElsaElsa. I read that originally, she was going to be a straight-up villain (which would have been closer to the fairy tale), but once they got into her, they discovered she's actually a sympathetic character and changed everything. That was a great start, but I would have liked to see more prologue, more of her side when they were kids and she was shut in, yet expected to someday rule the kingdom. When she sings "Let It Go," it's a hugely triumphant moment, but I wanted it to be an even bigger payoff.
Anything that was more about the sisters would have satisfied me, but in the imaginary world where I have powers, I would have approached it from the Elsa angle. Also because I <3 her.
2) I would have made the trolls more than a plot device. They pop up twice in the movie and are ultimately not that memorable, despite getting a big number. I liked the idea of them a lot, and I would have made them more connected to the story and the setting, instead of plopped in. I wanted more of a mythological, elemental feeling from them, similar to the feeling you get in Brave. I think it would have deepened the connection between the people and nature.
Now that I have armchaired this movie to death, I'm going to listen to "Let It Go" on repeat ten times or so.
#86: Nebraska - An aging, booze-addled father makes the trip from Montana to Nebraska with his estranged son in order to claim a million dollar Mega Sweepstakes Marketing prize. [imdb]
Early trailers for this movie seemed decent but maybe not a must-see, and then it started appearing on Lists, so of course I had to go. I'm glad I did; it's one of my most pleasant surprises of the year. It was touching and funny, but not hamfisted. It blossomed delicately into something not necessarily beautiful, but fascinating and honest. I think it's one of the best scripts put on major screens this year.
The cast is just lovely; they felt like a real family that is at times so very tired of one another and going through the motions out of obligation, but still instinctively and solidly united against outside threats. Will Forte surprises with his nuance, June Squibb is hysterical, and Bruce Dern marches solidly towards worthy nomination status.
(It made me miss my grandpa in a lot of places, despite having absolutely nothing in common with him.)
What I liked best about this movie is that for all that it shows things ugly and bleak, the core is of love and beautiful things in human nature. It achieves everything it tries to be with perfection.
I'm tracking pretty well on the awards season scorecards, mostly pending things that haven't come out yet Upcoming things I'm looking forward to most: Inside Llewyn Davis, Her, Labor Day (and Hobbit but that is out). I have to convince myself somehow to see All Is Lost, or I'm going to miss a lot of categories this year. Damn you, Redford.