Tag Archives: Fantasy

#66: Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971)

18 Tuesday Nov 2014

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(Best sung to “I’ve Got a Golden Ticket”)
 
Charlie has little reason to
Hope for a bit of luck anew,
But then golden tickets, just a few,
Make their abrupt debut.
 
He dreams of a golden ticket,
Even as four other dreams come true.
 
Suddenly golden hopes arise;
Charlie receives a chance to see
Old Willy Wonka’s big surprise,
His chocolate factory.
 
Along with four other winners,
Charlie is shown wonders one can chew.
 
As they are led from room to room,
Four rotten brats near meet their doom,
And Charlie is the last one.
Even though Wonka tries him still,
Charlie’s sweet heart imparts goodwill,
And suddenly, the testing is done.
He finds that he’s won!
 
Though all the other children fell,
Charlie has proven he is right
For Wonka’s secrets him to tell,
To everyone’s delight.
 
Because of that golden ticket,
Charlie is fulfilled and flying high,
And Willy Wonka’s found the apple of his eye.
_____________
 

My earlier review of Tim Burton’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory essentially stated that Burton gets nearly everything right, except Willy Wonka; the original Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory gets nearly everything right, including Willy Wonka. The classic children’s musical doesn’t have the visuals or the polished look of Burton’s remake, but it has the same wonky, daftly absurd combination of humor and heart that made Roald Dahl’s book such a success.

Though I actually prefer now Freddie Highmore’s Charlie, Peter Ostrum is still admirable as the lone good apple of the bunch, and his relationship with Jack Albertson’s Grandpa Joe is more familial and evident than in the remake, possibly due to the absence of Mr. Bucket. All of the children are appropriately detestable in different ways, with Julie Dawn Cole as Veruca Salt being the most insufferable, and their comeuppances are all the more satisfying for their impudence. Of course, the star of the picture (aside from Charlie) is Willy Wonka himself, and Gene Wilder is perfect as the titular candy maker, even though Dahl had preferred Spike Milligan for the role. Whereas Johnny Depp’s Wonka displayed peculiarities more disturbing than endearing, Wilder spouts classical quotations and jumps between languages effortlessly, playing the candy man as eccentric and only occasionally trending toward insane. Granted, that boat ride is downright creepy (a chicken’s head being cut off? really?), but the rest of Wonka’s antics have a fun weirdness which, as Charlie says, is not necessarily bad. Wilder captures that ideal gray area between sanity and insanity that a character like Willy Wonka requires (and that Johnny Depp couldn’t quite attain), though I would have liked some indication that the bratty kids were indeed all right, as the book and remake did.

Roald Dahl himself despised the film’s changes to his book, and though I agree that the “fizzy lifting drinks” part was unnecessary and detracted from Charlie’s natural goodness, I think that Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory still does his work justice (of course, purely from a reader’s standpoint). Various annoying habits are properly skewered, such as gum-chewing, gluttony, and television addictions, while Charlie’s decency is allowed to shine and be rewarded. The sheer imagination of Dahl’s book is brought to colorful life in the chocolate room sequence; who wouldn’t want to cavort through those edible fields? Though Dahl’s own songs from the book are omitted (and later utilized in Burton’s remake), Willy Wonka’s Oscar-nominated soundtrack is full of memorable ditties that live on from childhood, reaching high points with “I’ve Got a Golden Ticket” and “I Want It Now.”

Other films may have appealed to Dahl’s odd sensibilities more, such as Matilda, James and the Giant Peach, The Fantastic Mr. Fox, or Burton’s take on the Chocolate Factory, but none are quite as delectably appealing as this first Dahl film adaptation. Willy Wonka has only grown in popularity over the years, becoming somewhat of a cult film, and continues to be a scrumdiddlyumptious delight for young and old.

Best line: (Mr. Salt, boarding the Wonkatania) “Ladies first, and that means Veruca.”   (Grandpa Joe, to Charlie) “If she’s a lady, I’m a Vermicious Knid.”

 
Rank: 56 out of 60
 

© 2014 S. G. Liput

249 Followers and Counting

#70: Big (1988)

14 Friday Nov 2014

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When 12-year-old Josh wishes he could be big,
At some wishing booth called Zoltar,
He wakes up as Tom Hanks, no longer a twig,
But a 30-year-old. How bizarre!
 
He’s kicked from his home for his strange adult mug
But gets help from Billy, his friend.
Josh moves to the city, in need of a hug,
And wants this whole nightmare to end.
 
Yet since he is big, he must get a job now
And be an adult, more or less.
Becoming a cubicle worker somehow,
He and Billy find fun in distress.
 
A tuneful encounter with one of his bosses
Propels him ease by next morn.
He’s paid to test toys, and forgetting his losses,
Enjoys a girlfriend and small corn.
 
But Josh is a kid, Billy has to remind him;
This life is not where kids belong.
In searching for Zoltar, they finally find him,
And Josh sees that he’s in the wrong.
 
As home he returns, he has time still to bid
Goodbye to his girlfriend once more.
His second small wish sends him back to a kid;
His life as a grown-up is o’er.
_________________
 

Among a slew of age-changing films in and around 1988, Big was certainly the greatest, largely due to the skill and watchability of Tom Hanks. Many actors have inhabited more child-life roles, typically for comedic effect, but Hanks expertly balances boyish exuberance with youthful anxieties. The scene in which he cries alone in a seedy hotel is the best example of why he deserved his first Oscar nomination for Best Actor.

To complement Hanks’s star power, there’s also Elizabeth Perkins as his girlfriend Susan, who is oddly attracted to how different Josh is from other men, and John Heard as his immature rival for her affections, who at times makes one wonder “Who’s the kid again?” Mercedes Ruehl evokes the loss of Josh’s grieving mother, and I love how Josh tries to comfort her with his hasty rendition of “The Way We Were.” (“Scattered pic-tures…”)

Though Josh’s rise to success is unrealistically easy (though an enchanted wish-granting carnival booth isn’t exactly realistic anyway), and I have no idea how he was hired with a fake social security number by a major company, Tom Hanks is so winsome and delightful as he leaps on trampolines and gnaws at baby corn that most flaws fall by the wayside. There was some disagreement on how to end the film, namely whether Susan should join Josh in becoming a child. While such a leap of love would have borne a continued hope of romance, I tend to side with how the original film concludes. Susan’s refusal is not only more realistic, but it also avoids further unanswered questions like who her guardian would be and how she as an adult would function as a little girl again. It’s one of those matters that seems right to the heart but not the head.

Replete with classic moments of humor, like the piano duet at FAO Schwarz or Josh’s reaction to caviar, Big remains director Penny Marshall’s best comedic film. 13 Going on 30, a female remake starring Jennifer Garner, captured some of the spirit of Big but could not compare with the original’s charm. Thanks to Tom Hanks’s equal facility with comedy and drama, Big was and is a big success.

Best line: (Josh’s mother, over the phone, thinking Josh is his own kidnapper) “You have my son?”
(Josh) “Yes.”
(His mother) “Look, if you touch one hair on his head, I swear I will spend the rest of my life making sure you suffer.”
(Josh) “Wow, thanks.”
 
Rank: 55 out of 60
 

© 2014 S. G. Liput

245 Followers and Counting

#71: Jumanji (1995)

13 Thursday Nov 2014

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Son of a shoe mogul, young Alan Parrish
Finds a board game
With the power to maim,
Jumanji its name.
Sucked into jungles with no one to cherish,
He disappears
And meets his worst fears
For twenty-six years.
 
Peter and Judy, two modern-day youths,
Start playing as well,
And the game raises hell
They cannot dispel.
Alan is freed and must face the hard truths:
His family did fade;
The town has decayed,
But the game must be played.
 
Finding his old playmate Sarah, they try
To finish the game,
And dangers untame
Distract from their aim.
Perils abound, which they cannot defy,
Hunters, stampedes,
And overgrown weeds,
But no one concedes.
 
Nearing the end, Alan rolls the last dice.
He wins as a man,
And according to plan,
All is as it began.
Jumanji must go, that unbearable vice,
But Alan’s set right,
And his future is bright,
Yet the game’s not done quite.
_________________
 

Jumanji was one of my favorite family films while growing up. Based on Chris Van Allsburg’s picture book with a much simpler story, it succeeds in summoning the same magic that highlights Van Allsburg’s books, namely the “what if” quality of fantasy. What if a giant locomotive stops in the middle of the street outside one’s door on Christmas Eve? What if one’s house were transported into outer space? What if monkeys and stampedes were to suddenly appear in one’s home? Yet Jumanji also boasts an entertaining story to accompany the images, with much more enjoyable characters than its science fiction follow-up Zathura.

Of course, in light of his recent death, all Robin Williams films now hold a touch of sadness, but Jumanji allowed him a (mostly) serious role that was still accessible to the child audience. Though the idea of being sucked into a board game has a silly quality that is touched on, Williams depicts the realistic loss and loneliness which someone in that position would necessarily endure. Bonnie Hunt is also endearing as his traumatized friend Sarah, while a young Kirsten Dunst and Bradley Pierce play Judy and Peter, the only players from the original book. Just as Hans Conried voiced both Mr. Darling and Captain Hook in Disney’s Peter Pan, Jonathan Hyde plays both Alan’s father and his confrontational hunter Van Pelt, with a much more obvious parental parallel between the two. David Alan Grier is also hilarious as Officer Carl, whose reactions to the ever-increasing damage to his car are priceless.

The computer-generated imagery was still cutting-edge for 1995 but sadly hasn’t completely aged well. Though the jungle mayhem is still impressive and entertaining, it’s all clearly effects, particularly the monkeys and the giant spider puppets. Even so, children are more forgiving of such things; as a kid and adult, I still enjoyed every minute of this film (except that spider part—ugghhh).

Offering excitement, humor, and a bearded Robin Williams for all ages, Jumanji is a rollicking good time. As the chaos piles up, so does the danger, as well as the fun for those of us not experiencing it. And aside from the endorsement of child/parent harmony, the film also teaches an important moral: never play with strange items found buried and locked in an ancient chest. Lesson learned.

Best line: (gun store owner, when the pith-helmeted Van Pelt is eagerly purchasing a replacement weapon) “You’re not a postal worker, are you?”

 
Rank: 55 out of 60
 

© 2014 S. G. Liput

245 Followers and Counting

#72: Somewhere in Time (1980)

12 Wednesday Nov 2014

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The playwright Richard Collier
On the eve of his success,
Is met by an old woman
In emotional distress.
 
She gifts him with a watch
And an entreaty to return,
Then disappears to die that night,
And why he can’t discern.
 
Years later, Richard takes a drive
And finds the Grand Hotel,
An antique venue lost in time
With friendly personnel.
 
He notices a photograph
Of beauty unsurpassed:
Elise McKenna, actress,
And the woman he saw last.
 
Obsessed with her expression,
He does research on a dime
And is convinced that, with his mind,
He’ll travel back in time.
 
He does so with some effort;
With more, he wins her heart,
But Miss McKenna’s manager
Tries keeping them apart.
 
Their love grows ever stronger
And cannot be suppressed,
Until time’s rules divide them,
Leaving both of them depressed.
 
The broken hearts of Richard
And his sweet of decades past
End up uniting both of them
In timeless love at last.
________________
 

Yes, Somewhere in Time made me cry the first time. Time travel always has great potential as a story device, and allowing it to create tragic romance is a natural result. The film wasn’t particularly well-received at first, but over time has garnered a collection of avid fans, known officially as INSITE, the International Network of Somewhere in Time Enthusiasts, half of whom happen to be men. Thus, I’m not ashamed in the least to be touched by such a potentially sappy tearjerker.

Shedding his Superman persona from his previous film, Christopher Reeve plays hopeless romantic Richard Collier in possibly the most moving performance of his career. It may sound corny, but fate seems to guide him to his true love’s photo, driving him to zealously search for information about her and how he may connect with her. Some might consider this obsessive, but the all-consuming promise of romance excuses such complaints. When he finally reaches 1912, love grows naturally but quickly as he makes himself irresistibly charming to Miss McKenna, played by Jane Seymour, as always the epitome of feminine elegance. Christopher Plummer portrays her possessive manager, whose intentions are more benign and complex than a typical villain, though no less domineering. At times, the rather simple script could have fallen flat in the hands of lesser actors, but all three leads are distinguished.

As far as time travel goes, there are no time machines, police boxes, or DeLoreans; Richard leaps through decades with… hypnosis, which is not the most convincing of methods but still carries the requisite paradoxes and unforeseen complications. In addition to the dripping romanticism, it manages some quiet humor while avoiding the typical fish-out-of-water scenarios. Shot predominately on Michigan’s Mackinac Island, the cinematography is also lovely, often reminiscent of a faded watercolor painting. Then there’s the haunting music that sticks in one’s head long after the credits roll. Somewhere in Time did for Rachmaninoff what Ghost did for “Unchained Melody”; the flowing strains of Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini immediately conjure up the film’s emotions.

I am always deeply touched by reunions, by friends and loved ones meeting again after heartache on both sides. It is these homecomings that often enhance the endings of “Meet ‘em and Move On” films; they’re what make difficult films like Slumdog Millionaire and The Color Purple worth watching. The “together forever” kind of conclusion particularly has a special power that reinforces the tearjerker status of stories like Wuthering Heights, Grave of the Fireflies, and Titanic. Somewhere in Time’s final scene is just so depressingly romantic that it still brings my VC to tears. Simply beautiful.

Best line: (Richard, with a mock pick-up line that I must try sometime) “Young woman, if you do not walk with me, I shall go mad! Positively insane, and do crazed things to myself!”

 
Rank: 55 out of 60
 

© 2014 S. G. Liput

245 Followers and Counting

#82: Aladdin (1992)

02 Sunday Nov 2014

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(Best sung to “Arabian Nights”)
 
In a kingdom long past, in the great Agrabah,
The vizier has a villainous plan.
In the rarest of caves,
There’s a lamp that he craves,
But Jafar first requires a young man.
 
This Aladdin is poor, but he meets the princess;
Jasmine’s drawn to his freedom and charm.
He is tricked by Jafar
To dare where wonders are,
And one slip nearly brings him to harm.
 
Though trapped in the cave,
The agreeable tramp
Obtains wishes three
From a joking Genie
When he brushes his lamp.
 
Becoming a prince,
Al deceives everyone.
He wins Jasmine’s heart
And reveals Jafar’s art
Of deception he’s spun.
 
When Jafar gets the lamp
And indulges his greed,
He is tricked into jail,
Al and Jasmine prevail,
And the Genie is freed.
_______________
 

Created during the upswing of Disney’s animation Renaissance, Aladdin continued the high quality of The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast. For a while, I considered it rather overrated, but recent viewings have proven that it is indeed a diamond in Disney’s collection. Much of the film’s success goes to the late, great Robin Williams as the frenetic Genie. For my generation, Aladdin was the first introduction to Williams’s delirious brand of humor, so fast-paced and jammed with impressions, puns, and comedic asides that re-watches are a must. The animation complements his frenzied personality, allowing the character to transform and dart around with abandon. His “all-powerful” status also allows for countless anachronisms, including Middle Eastern cliché revisions (“Wake up and smell the hummus”) and references to The Little Mermaid and Pinocchio. (Interestingly, some locations that Aladdin and Jasmine visit during “A Whole New World” foreshadowed upcoming Disney releases, like Hercules and Mulan.)

Of course, the soundtrack was also very well-received, earning Aladdin two Oscars for Best Score and Best Song for ”A Whole New World,” one of Disney’s best romantic duets. The Genie’s frenzied appeal highlights “A Friend Like Me” and “Prince Ali,” and “Arabian Nights” lived on as the theme song of the Aladdin TV series. While not my favorite of the Disney soundtracks, it is nevertheless fun and engaging.

Though none of the characters are as colorful as Genie, most are well-drawn and complex. As a male protagonist, Aladdin himself changes up Disney’s usual princess model, and Jasmine is a worthy addition to the roster of strong princesses. Sounding not unlike Vincent Price, Jonathan Freeman’s Jafar is also a formidable villain, able to make the word “boo boo” into something sinister. Aladdin also boasts one of the greatest number of individual sidekicks that I’ve counted: besides Genie, there’s Abu and the magic carpet for Aladdin, Raja the tiger for Jasmine, and Iago (a priceless Gilbert Gottfried) for Jafar.

Between the music, character dynamics, and brisk comedy, Aladdin deserves its reputation as one of Disney’s great successes; even this year, it spawned a Broadway musical. Oh, that Disney could return to these glory days!

Best line: (Genie, when first awakened) “Oy! Ten thousand years will give you such a crick in the neck!”

 
Rank: 54 out of 60
 

© 2014 S. G. Liput

237 Followers and Counting

 

#86: Hook (1991)

29 Wednesday Oct 2014

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When Peter Pan grows up at last,
Forgetting all about the past,
Of Neverland, Lost Boys, and fairies,
He just settles down and marries
Wendy’s daughter Moira and
Becomes a father, dull and bland.
 
A businessman now, Peter spares
No time for Jack and Maggie’s cares,
Until they’re nabbed by Captain Hook.
The Pan has no clue where to look,
But Tinker Bell with pixie dust
Arrives, despite his lack of trust.
 
She spirits him to Neverland,
Where Hook has his kids close at hand,
But Peter’s weak and scared of heights
And not prepared for fights or flights.
So Tink compels old Hook to grant
Three days to sharpen this transplant.
 
The Lost Boys, led by Rufio,
Are quick to ambush those that grow;
They doubt this codfish is the Pan,
Yet Peter’s face persuades the clan.
His training yields no vindication
Till he finds imagination.
 
In the meantime, Hook ensnares
Young Jack by putting on such airs
To make the boy loyal to Hook,
The famous pirate chief and crook.
Though Peter’s shaken by this fact,
He finds his happy thought intact.
 
His love and hope of fatherhood
Bring back old Peter Pan for good.
He plays, he fights, he crows once more
And takes the battle to Hook’s door.
Pan rescues Maggie from her cell
And proves himself to Jack as well.
 
He duels with Hook and bests the fop
Before Hook’s swallowed by a prop.
Then Peter names his new right hand
And, with his kids, leaves Neverland.
Distractions will no longer be
A thorn for Peter’s family.
________________
 

Steven Spielberg’s contribution to the Peter Pan mythos wasn’t especially well-received in 1991, but it has become a family favorite since. The late Robin Williams is perfectly cast as the grown-up Peter, combining his proven dramatic ability with the comedic juvenility of his man-child persona. Likewise, Dustin Hoffman owns the title role, utterly unrecognizable under the elaborate wig and pirate costume, and embodies both Hook’s villainy and his preening arrogance. Other excellent performances come from Bob Hoskins as the bearded Smee and Julia Roberts as Tinker Bell, whose “pixie” cut (J) and perkiness hid well her engagement turmoil at the time of the film’s production.

What many criticized was the film’s supposedly halfhearted re-creation of Neverland, but while it’s not the most memorable of wonderlands, Spielberg’s Neverland has a charm of its own. The sets are obviously sets, yet they somehow fit the story, as if recalling Peter Pan’s stage origins. The pirate village is a particularly impressive mise en scène, with all the theatricality of an elaborate play, which I sometimes prefer to the overly wrought CGI dream worlds that have become routine nowadays. The games the Lost Boys play feel like genuine activities such unsupervised youngsters would invent in a magical world, and they’re given more unique personalities than the Disney version, which essentially differentiated most of them simply by their costumes. There is silliness on both sides, as well as some pirate-y violence, but even when the film’s tone shifts, it retains a giddy adventurousness that is continually entertaining.

One aspect that raises Hook above other Peter Pan films is the message of fatherhood. The idea of Peter Pan growing up might seem unimaginable, but his desire for a family, to be a daddy, is an admirable reason for the end of a legend. While his focus on work at the expense of his family is practically tragic at the beginning, his fully-realized love for his kids creates a satisfying return to priorities by the end. In the interim is a fanciful tale of Peter rediscovering the joy of both being a child and becoming a father.

Best line (just the way Williams says it): (Peter) “I do not believe in fairies.”
(Tinker Bell) “Every time someone says ‘I do not believe in fairies,’ somewhere there’s a fairy that falls down dead.”
(Peter) “I do not believe in fairies!”
[Tink feigns an overly dramatic death scene]
(Peter) “Oh my God, I think I’ve killed it.”
 
Rank: 53 out of 60
 

© 2014 S. G. Liput

235 Followers and Counting

 

#98: The Santa Clause (1994)

15 Wednesday Oct 2014

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Scott Calvin says that Santa’s real
And gives the chronic Christmas spiel
When his son Charlie visits Scott.
Though Charlie has faith, Scott does not.
 
Their Christmas Eve is pitiful,
But Charlie’s still excitable.
He hears a noise upon the roof
And knows it’s many a reindeer hoof.
 
Scott’s yelling startles someone there,
Who falls before the dumbstruck pair.
At Charlie’s urging, Scott agrees
To wear the suit the man empties.
 
They find indeed a reindeer sleigh,
With which Scott flies, to his dismay,
Delivering the toys with scorn
To every house before the morn.
 
The reindeer taking full control,
They end up at the real North Pole,
Where child-like elves greet him because
Scott Calvin’s their new Santa Claus.
 
The Santa Clause (observe the E)
Makes Scott the big man rapidly.
Though he refuses to believe,
He can’t escape that Christmas Eve.
 
As Charlie tells both Mom and Neal
That Scott is Santa Claus for real,
Scott finds that he is gaining weight,
Perhaps from all the sweets he ate.
 
His beard is growing magically;
He’s Santa-fied for all to see,
And Laura comes to the conclusion
This is some harmful delusion.
 
She takes Charlie from his dad,
Who only wants to please the lad.
When Christmas Eve arrives once more,
Both Scott and Charlie flee and soar.
 
This puts Scott on the wanted list,
And he’s arrested in the midst
Of Christmas duties, though some elves
Release him, flying off themselves.
 
Returning Charlie to his mom,
Scott tries to keep the youngster calm.
As Laura’s disbelieving thaws,
Scott proves himself as Santa Claus
And flies away with all his toys
For all the world’s good girls and boys.
___________________
 

Certain films thoroughly capture and capitalize on a comedian’s unique voice; Bill Murray had Groundhog Day, Dudley Moore had Arthur, Steve Martin had The Jerk, and Tim Allen had The Santa Clause. Full of all the deprecatory wit of his hit TV series Home Improvement (which director John Pasquin had previously produced), Tim Allen is at his comedic best in this modern Christmas classic. It’s unfortunate that the humor seems to normalize Charlie’s dysfunctional broken family, but some later scenes showing the impact of a judge’s court order lends some reality to the pain of divorce and the nuclear family’s disintegration. The filmmakers couple this comedy and heart with some Christmas spirit that is at once revisionist and faithful, creating a film that remains as entertainingly original today as it was in 1994.

Tim Allen steals every scene, from his abortive turkey meltdown early on to his constant disparagement of Neal’s snazzy sweaters, which my VC actually admires. Allen’s fat suit for gradually transforming into St. Nick never looks fake, and if the likes of The Nutty Professor and Norbit can earn Best Makeup Oscar nominations, The Santa Clause certainly should have. Wendy Crewson of Air Force One and gentle-voiced Judge Reinhold of Beverly Hills Cop provide sympathetic foils for Allen’s drollery, and their disbelief and concern for Charlie’s well-being are entirely understandable. Indeed, though Allen releases a number of snide remarks, the film’s strength is its lack of negativity. No character possesses any ill will, and everything hinges on discovering belief rather than some good/evil conflict, much like The Polar Express.

Though the sequels featured a major Lost alert in casting Elizabeth Mitchell as Mrs. Claus, they fell short of the original Christmas favorite. With clever effects and a wondrous vision of the North Pole, The Santa Clause ranks among the best Santa movies, reinforcing everyone’s inner child.

Best line: (Scott, flying into the sunrise after his first night of toy deliveries) “Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night! When I get home, I’m getting a CAT scan!”

 
Rank: 53 out of 60
 

© 2014 S. G. Liput

229 Followers and Counting

 

Brother Bear (2003)

10 Friday Oct 2014

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(Best sung to Phil Collins’s “On My Way”)
 
When Kenai’s totem is named as love,
The thing that will make him a man.
He thinks that the spirits who shine above
Are messing up his life’s future plan.
 
One small mistake gets his brother killed,
And he’s quick to blame a hostile bear.
His thirsting for vengeance is soon fulfilled,
And the spirits lift him in the air.
 
He is given a chance to discover anew
The life that he took through its eyes.
As a bear now, Kenai must
Team with a cub,
Who is vocal for his size.
 
As they are headed for the spirits’ mount,
His other brother hunts the pair.
As they journey, he and Koda make the miles count,
And they bond on the trip that they share.
 
Kenai’s soon shocked to learn the bear he slew
Was Koda’s missing mother, long gone.
Though the heartache they’re both feeling splits them up,
They need each other;
They’re now brothers worth relying on.
 
Upon the mountain, his human bro
Attacks to have revenge as well.
As Kenai is nearing a mortal blow,
The spirits abolish their spell.
 
They reunite as the changes fade,
Assisted by their brother above.
Kenai stays as a bear yet a man is made,
Through the totem that he’s now proud of,
A brother’s love.
______________
 

Whereas my opinions of WALL-E agreed with the critical consensus, Brother Bear performed poorly among critics and audiences, but I consider it one of Disney’s most underrated successes. From the mountainous vistas in a painterly art style to “all that cuddly bear stuff” which is both heckled and embraced, Brother Bear is a beautiful film that stands as Disney’s last great use of traditional animation.

Phil Collins may have declined in popularity since then, but his music for Brother Bear added so much to an already great film. As with Tarzan, his songs play over various montages, such as the opening scenes of brotherhood with Tina Turner singing the lovely and catchy “Great Spirits.” “On My Way” during the cross-country journey and “Welcome” during the salmon run are also unsung masterpieces, so to speak.

The pagan spirituality is taken more seriously than, say, the comedic ghostly ancestors of Mulan, but unlike the New Age crystals of Atlantis: The Lost Empire, the spirits of Brother Bear have some cultural basis in real Native American tradition. I found their incorporation in the story to be a respectful nod to a unique people, as Disney had previously done with Lilo and Stitch.

The animation is among Disney’s best, and I love the character designs, particularly Kenai’s bear form, which matches Joaquin Phoenix’s voice better than his human form. Young Jeremy Suarez as Koda has the same garrulous, road-tripping insistence as Shrek’s Donkey while embodying all that is cute about a teddy bear. As for comic relief, Disney couldn’t have done better for this Arctic film than Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas as a moose version of their McKenzie Brothers comedy act (gotta love their game of “I Spy”).

In addition to the animation, comedy, and music, Brother Bear packs a powerful emotional punch that left me crying in the theater the first time I saw it. The entire message of the film is to see life from a different perspective, through another’s eyes, literally. Kenai misses this point throughout most of the film, only caring about his own loss, but when he realizes the far-reaching consequences of his actions, the sorrow is palpable, punctuated by Collins’s song “No Way Out.” While this tune is utterly depressing, sitting through the end credits is rewarded with an uplifting rewording of the song, which deserves a place in my End Credits Song Hall of Fame, along with the single “Look Through My Eyes.”

In addition to the much worse Home on the Range the next year, it’s a shame that Brother Bear’s poor reception spelled the end of Disney’s traditionally animated excellence. It’s exciting, moving, amusing, and able to bring my VC to tears every time. It’s an underprized gem about the value of love and brotherhood which deserved much better, eh.

Best line: (Koda, drowsily, when Kenai is waking him up) “Two more months, Mom….”

 
Artistry: 8
Characters/Actors: 8
Entertainment: 9
Visual Effects: 10
Originality: 7
Watchability: 10
 
TOTAL: 52 out of 60
 

Next: #102 – On Golden Pond

© 2014 S. G. Liput

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The Green Mile (1999)

07 Tuesday Oct 2014

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Paul Edgecomb was somehow scarred,
For he was once a prison guard
Upon the “mile” painted green.
The death row cells it ran between
Held prisoners awaiting there
The just and fair electric chair.
 
Upon this mile, he and his guys
Secured those sensing their demise:
An Indian with life’s regret,
A Cajun with a rodent pet,
And big John Coffey, dense but tame,
Who barely knows to spell his name.
 
One guard named Percy savored grief
And mocked the prisoners’ belief.
At every chance, with clear disdain,
He’d add unneeded extra pain,
But he was swiftly terrified
When “Wild Bill” disturbed his pride.
 
Though Billy’s antics were insane,
John Coffey proved much less profane.
He somehow healed a pain-filled Paul,
As well as Mr. Jingles small.
Both man and mouse were touched by John,
And their afflictions soon were gone.
 
Since Paul was freed of his torment,
He thought John might be innocent.
Although John seemed harmless throughout,
Nobody else held any doubt:
He killed two girls, or so they said.
He would be punished for the dead.
 
Paul’s friend and boss Hal wished that life
Would spare his cancer-stricken wife.
Paul’s guards agreed to transport John
To heal the tumor ere the dawn.
He did so and employed her trial
To punish sinners on the mile.
 
Paul saw that John was doing time
For Wild Bill’s appalling crime,
And though he wished to let John go,
He could not free him from death row.
Once John was dead with many tears,
Paul lived well past one hundred years.
Both he and Mr. Jingles wait
Upon the mile that is their fate.
_____________
 

Steven King’s preoccupation with horror and violence unfortunately detracts (for me) from most of his work, but in certain cases his talent for drama supersedes these aspects to create a truly memorable story. Misery and The Shawshank Redemption are such stories, and so is The Green Mile. As with Shawshank, The Green Mile deals with a prison of the past, but though there are fleeting glimpses of work details nearby, it depicts the even more somber area known as death row, or the Last Mile.

The main guards are uniformly either admirable or despicable, but all are well-cast. Tom Hanks as Paul Edgecomb yields a Gump-ish Southern drawl and even gets a brief reunion with Lieutenant Dan…I mean, Gary Sinise. David Morse, Jeffrey DeMunn, and Barry Pepper play Paul’s sensitive and respectful good ol’ boys, while (Lost alert!) Doug Hutchison convincingly portrays sadistic Percy Wetmore, who disregards life and hates mice, people, and not getting his way. Michael Clarke Duncan’s Oscar-nominated performance as John Coffey is the stand-out, that of an innocent soul too simple to defend itself and too oppressed by the world’s ill will to desire a protraction of this life. While his origins are ambiguous, scenes like the “flicker show,” in which the projector forms a halo around his head, confirm his innate goodness and miraculous legacy. The other prisoners are likewise skilled actors: Dancing with Wolves’s Graham Greene as the remorseful Arlen Bitterbuck, Michael Jeter as mouse-trainer Eduard Delacroix, and a frightening Sam Rockwell as the perverse Wild Bill Wharton. (Rockwell’s comedic role in Galaxy Quest that same year attests to his versatility as an actor.) Bonnie Hunt, Patricia Clarkson, and James Cromwell round out the surprisingly large cast.

Despite all the characters, the film’s plot progresses methodically, developing most characters gradually, such as the scope of Coffey’s mysterious powers and the extent of Percy’s and Wild Bill’s malice. Each subplot, with both drama and comic relief, is woven beautifully into the overall narrative: Paul’s urinary tract infection, Percy’s desire to work at a mental hospital, Hal’s dying wife, Coffey’s wrongful conviction, etc. Most of the credit goes to King, but director Frank Darabont, who also adapted Shawshank, deftly handles the various story threads with visual mastery. Aside from readers of the book, the viewer doesn’t know what will happen next, making scenes like the comeuppance of the two villains both shocking and brilliant.

With all this praise, The Green Mile could have made it into my top 100 if not for its many detractions. Profanity is plentiful, as is violence. Del’s botched execution scene in particular is as disturbing as the C-section in Prometheus and continues for far too long just to sicken the audience, as well as the characters. The family of his victim wanted him to suffer, but I doubt they intended for such an atrocity. Pair these issues with a preoccupation with urinating and an overall depressing atmosphere, and the film falls short of something truly uplifting.

Yet, while critics can nitpick and delve into the themes and details for social and spiritual meaning, the film works on the surface as a proficient supernatural tragedy. The death of gifted innocence is always sad, and The Green Mile achieves a poignancy that most films only dream of.

Best line: (John Coffey, speaking for all decent people nowadays) “Mostly I’m tired of people being ugly to each other. I’m tired of all the pain I feel and hear in the world every day. There’s too much of it.”

 
Artistry: 10
Characters/Actors: 10
Entertainment: 7
Visual Effects: 9
Originality: 9
Watchability: 8
Other (language, violence): -2
 
TOTAL: 51 out of 60
 

Next: #104 – WALL-E

© 2014 S. G. Liput

220 Followers and Counting

 

Shrek 2 (2004)

03 Friday Oct 2014

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Fiona and Shrek, ever since true love’s kiss,
Are living the good life in marital bliss,
But soon they’re invited to Far Far Away
To meet with her parents, in spite of Shrek’s nay.
 
The journey is long and the company grates,
And when they arrive, the whole welcome deflates.
The king is disgusted by Shrek’s ogre ways,
And Shrek gives an equally ornery gaze.
 
A Fairy Godmother then visits Fiona
And isn’t much thrilled with her ogre persona.
The Godmother planned all along for her son
Prince Charming to wed her, till Shrek jumped the gun.
 
She urges the King, who is under her thumb,
To get rid of Shrek, so her own prince can come.
The King hesitantly obeys and recruits
A famed mercenary known as Puss in Boots.
 
The cat doesn’t win but befriends the main pair
And guides them to Godmother’s potion-filled lair.
One potion that guarantees beauty and joy
Transforms the two ogres to a real girl and boy.
 
The Godmother sees this as her perfect chance
For Charming to woo the princess at a dance,
But Shrek, with the help of his fairy tale friends,
Attacks the King’s castle before the night ends.
 
Redeeming himself, the King sticks up for Shrek
And thwarts the corrupt fairy pain-in-the-neck.
Both parents and son-in-law now get along,
And Donkey and Puss sing a toe-tapping song.
__________________
 

Shrek 2 ranks on my list as DreamWorks Animation’s best CGI film, as well as their most successful.  It also holds a special place in my heart thanks to my mom.  I was only 10 when my mom picked me up from school one day, but instead of driving home, I suddenly realized we were entering the parking lot of our local movie theater to see what else but Shrek 2.  The unexpected surprise (and enjoyable film) became one of those indelible childhood memories, even if she herself barely remembers it.

The film itself was a joy to watch, bringing back all the lovable players from the first film and introducing new classic characters.  It builds on the original story and doesn’t repeat itself.  Nearly every joke hits its target, and there are so many details and parodies that repeated viewings are definitely rewarded.  At the very beginning during the Oscar-nominated song “Accidentally in Love,” there are references to From Here to Eternity, Spider-Man, and The Fellowship of the Ring, and countless others follow, including spoofs of Alien, E.T., Beverly Hills Cop, Frankenstein, The Mask of Zorro, Mission: Impossible, Hawaii 5-0, and even the O. J. Simpson chase footage.  The Zorro resonances are especially ingenious since Antonio Banderas plays his feline counterpart Puss in Boots with enough gusto to give Donkey a run for his money as best animal sidekick.  (I’m a sucker for those big dark eyes.)  Yet, in addition to all these parodies, the film retains its own brand of humor:  Donkey’s annoying are-we-there-yets, the clever exchanges that both Shrek & Fiona and King Harold & Queen Lillian share before their rendezvous, the glimpses of the villains’ pub and the red carpet night.  As with the first film, a soundtrack of contemporary songs complements several thrilling action scenes; Jennifer Saunders’s rendition of “Holding Out for a Hero” as Shrek storms the castle is easily the best sequence of the whole film and my favorite version of the song.

Shrek 2 was a high point for DreamWorks that was quickly lowered by the likes of Madagascar and Shrek the Third.  The third Shrek film was an uninspired, unfunny mess focusing on all the wrong things and was only partially redeemed by the decent Shrek Forever After.  Perhaps it would have been better if Shrek and the gang had been left singing “Livin’ La Vida Loca.”  As far as satirical comedies with a romantic heart of gold go, DreamWorks has yet to do better.

Best line: (Fiona, unsure what Shrek’s new form looks like, questioning Puss) “Shrek?”  (Puss, eyeing her) “For you, baby, I could be.”

 
Artistry: 8
Characters/Actors: 10
Entertainment: 10
Visual Effects: 9
Originality: 9
Watchability: 10
Other (I like other films more): -5
 
TOTAL: 51 out of 60
 

Next: #107 – Captain America: The First Avenger

© 2014 S. G. Liput

215 Followers and Counting