Tangled: A True Return to Disney Classics

 Tangled continues in Disney's animation legacy of timeless classics. Being Disney's first fairy tale outing done in CGI, it's easy to have doubts. The marketing for this film didn't really do Tangled any favors either. Originally titled Rapunzel, the name change to Tangled and the shift of focus onto the male co-star Flynn Ryder in the merchandising was done as a way to try to get more boys into the theater. Despite this faulty marketing move, Tangled is very much Rapunzel's story and Rapunzel is the star of this instant classic. Sticking very close to the roots of the original German Rapunzel fairy tale, Tangled's story is one about overprotective parental figures and the need to want to break free. Mandy Moore voices Rapunzel and sings for her. Yup, this a musical. This is a big grand musical in the classical Disney style with songs by Alan Menken and Glenn Slater. Alan Menken was the one who brought Little Mermaid, Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast and Enchanted to life; to name only a few. Moore really gets to the heart of Rapunzel and truly owns the part, but the real surprise is Donna Murphy as our main villain Mother Gothel. A true hero is measured by it's main villain and Mother Gothel does not disappoint.

Every great Disney classics needs supporting characters. What would Mary Poppins be with Bert and the Banks' Children. What would Belle be without the enchanted objects. Snow White is just a lost girl in the forest without those dwarves.

An amazing supporting cast of characters that include Rapunzel's color changing chameleon companion Pascal, the scene stealing horse Maximus, and the main male co-star Flynn Ride accompany Rapunzel in her quest. Pascal and Maximus are animal companions but have more in common with Meeko and Percy from Pocohantas than Sebastian and Flounder from Little Mermaid for the fact that they don't talk. While they are without speech, they are fully fleshed out characters and you know exactly what they are trying to convey with their sometimes hillarious reactions. Maximus was especially a personal favorite of mine. Zachary Levi from the TV show Chuck voices and sings for Flynn Rider and it's easy to see why Disney would choose to up sale him in the TV ads. I would have to say that he's one of the most fleshed out Disney heroes since Aladdin.

Tangled is a big grand epic Disney musical done in the classic sense with the modern rendering of CGI animation. This is for sure to be seen for years and years to come and I can't wait to include Tangled in my Disney Collection. I highly recommend this one.

If you like this article, check these links out:

Tangled [+Digital Booklet]
A digital copy of the awesome soundtrack for just 3.99

Tiana and Charlotte: Princess Evolution
A look at the friendship of these two new favorite Disney Women.

Disney's The Little Mermaid: Gay Allegory
A cautionary tale.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1: Harry and his Friends in the World

After all these years, the grand finale of the Harry Potter series is here. Well, the first part of it is at least. Wanting to make sure that these characters get a proper send-off, the finale has been split into two movies. Part 2 will be released July 2011. The Harry Potter series has always been it's strongest when it dealt with the humanity of these characters. The story no doubt takes place in this fantasy world version of our own, but it's believable because the characters are believable and the three main players, Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint, have always played up the humanity of these characters.

In the first outing of this two part movie conclusion, Radcliffe, Watson and Grint take center stage. Unlike the previous films, this movie takes place out in the world, away from the familiar cozy setting of Hogwarts. Our young child stars are now young adults and they're on a quest to full adulthood. That's at least the underlining. The plot of this movie, aside from subtext, involves our three young heroes locating lockets that they need to destroy in order to defeat The Dark Lord Voldemort who has previously killed Harry's parents, and is out to kill Harry Potter.

The movie has a chase element to it that brings up memories of the original Terminator movies. This really helps the story push along as there is always a need for even the characters in the film to want to keep things moving from location to location. A very refreshing element indeed in what was originally a movie franchise that took place primarily in an ancient castle.

Being a 3 hour movie I was surprised to find that the film doesn't drag. The movie's pacing is perfect and I wish they didn't feel a need to have two separate movies to adapt one book to film. I would've stayed another 3 hours. True story.

If you like this article, you should check these out:

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Book 7)
Harry Potter Years 1-6 Giftset [Blu-ray]
The Twilight Saga - Eclipse: It's Not Modern It's Ancient

Burlesque - Christina and Cher Still Got It... Do You Want It?

Before I begin my review on the movie Burlesque, starring the great Christina Aguilera and the even greater Cher, let me tell the story of how I ended up in the VIP section of the special advanced screening I was invited to.

Above all things, nothing is free. I didn't have to pay a penny for the awesome seat I obtained (right in the middle), but I had to deal with traffic, parking and people wondering why my rag tag group of dancers got special seating while everyone else had to wait in line. 

We got special seating (right in the middle of the theater) because Coco, the director of our burlesque team, Pixie Stixx, got in the finals of MTV's Burlesque Dance Contest. We sat right behind the people from Sony and the members of IDK who were there with Robin (not Antin), another finalist from the contest.

We felt like Burlesque Royalty.

Now onto the movie Burlesque. Imagine Chicago and Cabaret with none of the social commentary but all of the sexy, flashy fun. This movie is "almost" that.

All great musicals have songs that help to push the story forward. This is not one of them. This movie has a lot more in common with Coyote Ugly and Flashdance. Flashdance especially. Not saying I didn't enjoy myself. On top of the 4 songs that actually do push the story forward, there are really some awesome pieces that just need to be seen to be believed. When the camera isn't cutting away from the dances, some real magic happens. Even Cam Gigandet gets to do a little striptease that has to be seen to be believed. Some of the lead-ins to the musical numbers were very unnecessary. When a movie opens with Christina Aguilera wailing away to cut away scenes burlesque dancers she has yet to meet, and follows with Cher wailing away with those very dancers, I think it's safe to say that if anyone is still in the theater, they get that these two ladies will sing and dance. 

Christina Aguilera plays Ally who escapes from her small town life to Hollywood and finds herself in a club called "The Burlesque Lounge" which has an exterior that resembles a gay youth center I used to frequent as a teen. There she meets the owner of the club Tess (Cher), her gay companion Sean (Stanly Tucci), a sexy metro bartender (Cam Gigandet) and the star of "The Burlesque Lounge," the villainous yet redeemable Nikki (an  underused Kristen Bell).

There should be no doubt about Cher's acting ability. This woman went through Moonstruck, Mermaids and Tea with Mussolini. She's an actor people. Christina Aguilera really surprised me with her portrayal of Ally. I thought what she did with the character was very real and honest and I can only imagine how hard that is to do with all the flashy set pieces and costumes flying about. 

Director and writer Steven Antin (Robin Antin's brother) really has to be praised for just diving into this material. Musical movies can be really tricky and this movie in particular straddles a fine line between movie musical and movie with music in it. A weak script full of cliches, one too many montage scenes and a rushed third act really might put a damper on this movie, but the little homages to Cabaret (Alan Cummings in a featured cameo for example) and the awesome choreography really help lift the movie past mediocre.

Definitely watch if you love the burlesque style of dance, Christina and Cher, and if not... well you read this far, I think you can safely decide. Or...... you can buy the Burlesque - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack.

Mary Kay Berman: June 5, 1961 – November 11, 1999

Today, 1999 (so that's like what, 11 years ago? I was never good at math), one of the most talented  female voice actors in the whole world took her own life. When I heard the news, I didn't think too much about it, people die all the time, but when I saw her body of work, I couldn't help but feel saddened that this talented woman was no longer with us.

Her two biggest gigs couldn't have been more contrasting. She was the official voice of Disney's Snow White, the original Disney Princess; and she voiced almost every female character in the show South Park. As Snow White, you can hear her most prominently in the deleted scenes in the now out of print DVD. 

She also gave new life to Daphne Blake in the Scooby Doo animted films of the late 90s. What was once a bland character was now all of a sudden full of layers and depth and that's all because of the dimension that Mary Kay Bergman put into the character. Scooby Doo in Zombie Island marks the debut of Bergman voicing Daphne and it is awesome.

Voicing Batgirl in the straight-to-DVD feature Batman: Sub-Zero, one of the Silly Girls in Disney's Beauty and the Beast andSpider-Man fan favorite Gwen Stacy in the Fox Animated series Spider-Man: The Animated Series are also very notable and unforgettable roles. She will be missed greatly by many and all.

In the following song from the South Park movie, Bigger, Longer and Uncut, take note on how she portrays each of her characters with a unique take. She's the voice of all of the mother characters, and what an awesome singer she was.

Forever Inspiring

Movie Crush - Kris from "Fantastic Mr. Fox"

Where the Wild Things Are - They're All Up in Here WOOP WOOP

Growing up, Maurice Sendak's Where the Wild Things Are was one of those books that was so epic to me. It was like a masculine take on the Oz and Alice stories I loved so much, but instead of words, it told it's story mostly in pictures. The Oz and Alice stories might've had more pages than Where the Wild Things Are, but to me, what was left to the imagination was more epic than even Baum or Carrol could conjure up, and that was the beauty of the book. It was so open up for interpretation than it was any child's story.

The movie version is probably how directior Spike Jonze saw the book in his head when he first read it too. For this film, the text is obviously expanded to include more background on Max before he went all "wild" and his monster friends, who now have names and are voiced by celebrities; namely James Gandolfini, Lauren Ambrose, Forest Whitaker and Catherine O'Hara to name a few. Our lead character, Max, is played to childhood tantrum perfection by Max Records.

Watching the movie was so surreal. I grew up in the 80's and the movie reminded me of the many obscure children's films I used to watch as a child in the local public library. I notice that it had the same feeling of childhood seclusion that dominated the swedish Pippi Longstocking films. So since the movie looks like it was made in the 80's, I think it's safe to say that movie has a timeless quality.

Spike Jonze has always been a visionary and he really puts his own unique vision to Where the Wild Things Are, but the cinematic look is undeniably inspired by Maurice Sendak's original illustrations. The story itself is far from self-explanatory. Like the book, the beauty of this movie is what the audience brings to it. There are many visuals and situations in the movie that are up for interpetation and discussion, so you know I was loving it while in the theater. This is not a movie you watch just once. This is a movie you watch several times to fully enjoy it. Where the Wild Things Are is going right up there on my shelf next to MGM's The Wizard of Oz and CBS' Alice in Wonderland.

If you enjoyed this article, you should read these:

The Wizard of Oz - A Parody Review - A different take on the classic MGM film. Everyone's reading it, you should too.

Toy Story 3 - Brave Little Toys - The conclusion to the Toy Story series... or is it?

CBS' Alice in Wonderland - Carol Channing, John Stamos and Pat Morita all in one Wonderland movie. HOLLA!!!

Superman/Batman: Apocalypse - Introducing Kara Zo-Rel

Let me begin by saying that first and foremost, I am totally biased for this movie. The Supergirl character has been a favorite character of mine for as long as I can remember and the graphic novel this movie is based off of has been a favorite read of mine. One of those favorite reads that never fails to bring me to tears. Another one would be Supergirl: Many Happy Returns. Maybe that should be DC's next animated film project?

You can't judge a book by it's cover, and the same goes for Blu Ray discs. You would never guess that this misleadingly titled film focuses on the introduction of Kara Zo-Rel, or Supergirl, Superman's cousin from Krypyton. Instead there's a focus on the world of Apocalypse and it's mighty ruler Darkseid. Fact: the heart of this movie, is Kara Zo-Rel. Don't let the fact that it's about a girl fool you though, this is not a fluffy movie. There's major deaths, blood, cussing. I was shocked, and I've read the friggin' book inside out.

The new girl in town seems to be of concern to everyone: Superman loves her unconditionally; Batman doesn't trust her; Wonder Woman wants to make sure she's using her powers responsibly; and Darkseid, the scarier than scary ruler of Apocalypse, just wants to exploit her powers. All of this unfolds in a grand explosion of adventure, action and some well written and acted drama.

Sometimes some of the action sequences felt a bit like over-kill, but I figured that the story was so epic, that maybe the action sequences needed to be that grand, especially when our headliners include Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman. The emotional resonance behind every action sequence made sure that this movie wasn't just mindless fights.

Instead of hiring celebrity voice actors for this film, Tim Daly, Susan Eisenberg and Kevin Conroy reprise their roles as Superman, Wonder Woman and Batman from the Bruce Timm DC animated series. Casting these familiar voices gave the film a sense of coming back home for fans of the Justice League, Batman and Superman Animated Series.

Summer Glau (Firefly, The Sarah Connor Chronicles) voices Kara, in what is easily one of the best acting roles I've seen her in ever.

The film itself looks so rich. There's this thing nowadays in really good Disney Blu Rays where animated films look like you're looking at the actual artwork. Now this disc is not Disney, it's Warner, it looks that good. I felt several times that I was watching an actual animation cel in movement.

Special features include 4 episodes from the Superman Animated Series that feature Supergirl and Darkseid.
Aside from those awesome 4 episodes, the rest is a mixed bag.

An animated short about Green Arrow is included. I hope this is a pilot, and I hope it gets picked up because it's really good.

There's some featurettes on some other DC animated movies that prove to be very informative. I am most excited about upcoming release of All Star Superman.

Three featurettes about the New Gods of DC are also included and expand on Darkseid's origin.

A featurette that was orignally found on the Smallville Season 7 DVDs about Supergirl is also included. While very informative and important to this disc, I was saddened that a production featurette on the film itself was not included. So here's one I found on Youtube.


Now why couldn't that be on the disc? Oh well.

This disc is a must have. Not only does it feature my favorite hero, Kara Zo-Rel, it also features Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman in a battle so epic that it couldn't be contained in the pages of a comic book.

Life Before Glee

Who enjoyed the Season 2 premiere of Glee? I sure did. I've watched the episode Auditions a few times already, mostly for Charice's appearance as new girl Sunshine Corazon. Filipino Pride Ya'lls!

Charice

Upon reading interviews with show creator Ryan Murphy, he blatantly states that he has never watched Disney's High School Musical, which some claim as an influence on the show's rising popularity. I can easily see that as a fact, I however think there might have been some other factors in the media that might have influence the look and feel of this ground breaking show.

Let's start at the beginning with the 80's series Kids Incorporated. While Fame dominated most of televisionat the time, Kids Incorporated is best known for starting the careers of Fergie (then known as Stacy Ferguson), Jennifer Love Hewitt (known simply as Love Hewitt), Mario Lopez and Eric Balfour among others. Like Glee, Kids Inc. would feature popular songs of the period as well as old favorites. Unlike Glee, it had more in common with an sitcom with stand-alone episodes as opposed to a serialized dramedy. The budget even equaled that of a cheap 80's sitcom, so of course it looked awesome to kids of the 80's like myself. The revolving cast made it hard for original fans to stay on board. Pretty much the quality started to decline when Stacy Ferguson bowed out. I loves me some Fergie.

From 1999-2001, the WB's most original show was Buffy the Vampire Slayer. But aside from Buffy, there was also the immensely popular Popular, which was created by Glee creator Ryan Murphy. The show featured two awesome female leads on opposite sides of the High School hierarchy who find that they will soon become sisters when their individual parents fall in love; an idea that was carried onto Glee when straight boy Finn's mom falls for homosexual cutie Kurt's dad. Also carried onto Glee from this show is the idea of jocks and cheerleaders in musicals, and all of that was waay before Disney's High School Musical as well. Characters occasionally break out into song, but it's too few and far in-between. Glee can be seen as a sort of spiritual sequel to Popular and I wouldn't be surprised if both shows were in the same TV-verse. The show was unfortunately ended too soon before it's prime. Both seasons can be bought on DVD. The Season 2 cover rocks. I voted for it on their webpage back in the day ;-)

Early incarnations of Kurt and Finn?
Popular - The Complete First Season
Popular - The Complete Second Season

After Popular, came a movie called Get Over It, directed by openly gay director Tommy O'Haver.  Get Over It is a long forgotten teen comedy with a musical angle. A high school basketball player falls for a girl, causing him to join the high school musical. This story premise should sound familiar to fans of Disney's High School Musical. The difference is that the movie is dominated not by original songs, but classic hits like "Love Will Keep Us Together" and "I'll Never Fall in Love Again." The original songs that are contained in the movie are awesome and penned by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman who also did the music for Hairpspray the Musical. Kirsten Dunst stars in this movie with an impressive supporting cast and does a lot of the singing, and she ain't bad. This movie is well worth a view if you can find it. I have a feeling it's out of print. 

Check it out, Mila Kunis was in it too
Get Over it

Glee is groundbreaking in the sense that it breaths new life into the musical genre. It takes what was before them and brings it to a level of a billion. Here's hoping that it continues to break new ground with it's unique storylines and interesting song-to-scene associations.

Megara - Who's the Damsel Now?

"I am a princess. All girls are. Even if they live in tiny old attics. Even if they dress in rags, even if they aren't pretty, or smart, or young. They're still princesses. All of us." - Sara Crewe, A Little Princess (1995)

Disney Animation Studios gets a lot of flack for creating weak characters: Princess that need their Princes to rescue them, to kiss them awake. This very stereotype was mocked in Disney's own movie Enchanted, but is this stereotype really applicable to Disney Films, even in the past? Are Disney Princesses always waiting for their Princes?


In the past, it did ring true. Snow White's longing for a true love when she sings "Someday My Prince Will Come" spells it all out. This chick is waiting for her prince. Cinderella's longing was a little step forward. She didn't want a prince. She wanted to go to a party. Holla! By chance she just happened to meet her prince while there. Briar Rose in Sleeping Beauty didn't even know she met a prince when she fell in love with Phillip. So after Snow White, the Disney Princesses in their own way tried to defy stereotypes of the princess in peril, albeit very subtly.

Beginning with Ariel, Disney Princesses started to have a sass all their own. Ariel was a typical teenager, talking back to her father and defying his rules, as was Jasmine, and she blatantly didn't "want to be princess." Belle was the town oddball who followed her own instincts and was the rescuer of her own prince. Many other strong female characters emerged liked Pocahontas, Kida (Atlantis: The Lost Empire) and Esmeralda (The Hunchback of Notre Dame) but the most interesting of them all would have to be Megara, the female lead in Disney's Hercules.

Disney has their official line-up of who their princesses are - Snow White, Cinderella, Briar Rose, Ariel, Belle, Jasmine, Mulan, Tiana and sometimes Pocahantas - and a lot of deserving female heroes they have created are not included in that line-up, namely Megara. I think she should be included.

Megara is spunky, strong and beautiful. Most importantly, when Hercules comes to her rescue, she is very quick to dismiss him. She can save herself. The song provided for her is also about "not" wanting a man. In the end when Hercules and Megara are standing side by side after all is said and done, it's not because of a grand wedding they are having, it's because there's no doubt in the world that their experiences throughout the film have led them to each other. Their future is no doubt full of love, but they're story doesn't have to end with a wedding.

So how about it Disney? Wanna include Megara in that Disney Princess line-up? She's died twice, I think she deserves it.

The Wizard of Oz - A Parody Review

(The following parody review may contain spoilers) 

MGM's The Wizard of Oz is based off of the book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz; the first book of the Oz series by L. Frank Baum. Newcomer Judy Garland plays Dorothy, a role originally offered to Shirley Temple, who looks more like how Dorothy does in the books. Veteran actors Ray Bolger as Scarecrow, Jack Haley as Tin Man and Bert Lahr as The Lion also star with Billie Burke and Margaret Hamilton as the two witches. A little on the lack of witches later.

Are you a good book? Or a bad movie?

While the film follows the book pretty closely, a huge portion of the classic children's novel is left out entirely, alienating the real fans, the fans of the books. For starters, they've added a huge portion of unnecessary exposition in the Kansas scenes. What was once a few pages in the book, is now a whole side story in which Dorothy's dog Toto has to be put down or something by Miss Gulch (Played by Margaret Hamilton who also plays The West Witch).

The Kansas scenes are in black and white and all the Oz scenes are in color, giving a striking affect. Probably the only faithful thing to come out of this film as Baum does describe Kansas as being "gray".

The Witches are all out of wack in this one. Glinda is now a combination of both The Witch of the South and The Witch of the North. She also replaces the role that The Mouse Queen plays in the original novel, so no Mouse Queen in this movie. Another insult to injury is the drastic changes to The Witch of the West. Where is her magic glass eye and her hat that controls the monkeys? Since when was she green?

 

And while on the topic of colors, ruby slippers? That's right. Just like our now green skinned Witch of the West, Dorothy now has these ruby slippers. What was wrong with the silver ones from the book? And remember the plot device of The Emerald City being only green because of the green glasses our characters are given? Gone also.

Other scenes like their confrontation with the Kalidahs, The Wizard's other two personas, and our main four characters' journey to the land of people made of china have been excluded, presumably to make space for hollow songs that do very little to move the plot along.

Instead of these lame songs, they should have included some friggin' story like how the Tin Man came to be and why Dorothy can't just take a cab back to Kansas, or even that rainbow horse carriage.

It's a nice try really, but a convoluted twist ending in which the whole movie was a dream makes it hard for the future books to be made into installments. If Oz isn't real then how will they adapt the rest of the series into film?

It's a nice fluffy movie, but as a companion to the books, I don't hold it that high.

If you enjoyed this article, you should check these links out:

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz: 100th Anniversary Edition (Books of Wonder) - The original. A must read if you want to be a real Oz fan.
The Wizard of Oz and Philosophy (Popular Culture and Philosophy) - A discussion of both the books and the film adaptations.
The Princess of Oz - An unfinished Oz movie by yours truly ;-)

(Don't panic, the previous was a parody, only a parody)

Blood: The Last Vampire - Got Blood?

Nowadays, a girl kicking vampire ass immediately brings to mind Joss Whedon's Buffy the Vampire Slayer - hopefully the TV series version. America hasn't really had a real iconic female super hero with Buffy's iconic status since then. When you say Buffy the Vampire Slayer, images immediately sprout to mind, both good and bad. With that in mind, watching Blood is like watching one of those Slayer flashbacks from Buffy the Vampire Slayer.You almost expect Anthony Stewart Head to start narrating.

In Japan, it's no real stretch to have a strong female lead. Bubblegum Crisis, Sailor Moon, Cutie Honey, Devil Hunter Yohko, all had strong female leads - or several leads - that could kick your ass.

As an American, I loved the original Blood animated short. It was very well rendered. Even to this day it looks gorgeous. It was well acted, well scripted, and just an awesome production all together. I'm not sure how it did in Japan as it does resemble so many other of their animated features at the time, but I knew I loved it.

Viewing the live action version felt like such a treat from the get go. The opening is almost shot by shot taken from the original short. The whole first half of the movie is pretty much an homage to the original short.

The real treat comes in the film's second half when the film branches away from it's animated origin. What lacked in the original was any sense of history that our main character Saya had. It was touched upon, but never explored like how it is here.

This is a big action film, but thankfully it never reaches bullet time, or Matrix-like special effects. The action scenes are long, but I found it refreshing to have this petite Asian woman doing the actioning as opposed to someone like that guy from Crank.

The demons she fights have this Ray Harryhausen quality to them. They gave the movie this sense of fun, but they were still incredibly scary. I was genuinely terrified once they finally made their appearance. It was like I was a kid again :-) I wanna watch Ghostbusters now.

Though I personally loved this movie and will be saving up for the Blu Ray, I'm not sure if it's very welcoming to non-genre fans. I think some knowledge of Horror and Anime would be very integral to enjoying this film. It is worth a rental though. It's a kick-ass vampire movie, it'll be a fun ride at least :-)

Might I also recommend:

Blood: The Last Vampire [Blu-ray]  - The original animated short on Blu Ray :-)
Buffy The Vampire Slayer - Collector's Set (40 discs) - The complete Buffy TV series.
Charlie's Angels [Blu-ray]  - A similiar visual style as the live action Blood, but perkier