With 'Moana', Clements and Musker Learn Valuable Lessons

Poster from Disney's Moana

With Moana, Clements and Musker Learn Valuable Lessons

                                                                                                             (Disney, 2016)

            A people’s culture is scared.  Many peoples are protective of that culture. A peoples’ identity is worth protecting.  To hand that over to someone is to trust them—say to them, “These beliefs, rituals, customs are me. I pray you do not harm me.” When that trust is respected, a beautiful union may blossom and create a wonderful piece of art and connection.  Disney’s Moana is a beautiful example of what these masterpieces can look like.

            The directors of the film Ron Clements and John Musker, who have Disney credits such The Princess and the Frog, Hercules, Aladdin, and The Little Mermaid to their names, have learned many things from their past films; the first lesson being a hard lesson about cultural appropriation. 

Aladdin happened to not have a cast member of Middle Eastern decent in any of the lead roles. Moana is beautifully cast with Hawaiian and Polynesian voices that use culturally appropriate singing culturally aware. 

The second lesson that Mr. Clements and Mr. Musker have learned through the years that the greatest thing to do as a directors is to put together the best, most talented group of people they can and then stay out of the way. 

            The screenplay by Jared Bush, who is celebrating the success of his screenplay for Zootopia, digs into the Hawaiian folklore to honor the history of the people.  In true Disney tradition, it is both comic—especially from a pet, seemingly-suicidal chicken—and heartbreaking.  Beyond the tradition, Mr. Bush uses mythology to create the demi-god Maui voiced by Dwayne Johnson.  In Hawaiian mythology, Maui is both hero and villain—raising the Hawaiian Islands from the sea waters and unleashing darkness upon the world that forces the people of Hawaii into a famine.

            Mr. Johnson, who was raised partly in Hawaii himself, as Maui is lovably infuriating.  He is so full of his own ego that within moments of meeting him, he sings “You’re Welcome,” a delightfully fun, narcissistic song.  Mr. Johnson’s voice acting is only matched by his full-throttle energetic singing.  He sings without hesitation and fear.  It is obvious to the audience that he takes such joy in playing this character and that joy is transferred to the audience, who taps their feet along.

                                                                                                             (Disney, 2016)

            Mr. Johnson is not the only joyful voice in the film.  Making her debut film appearance, the voice of Moana, Auli’i Cravalho sings out with such perfection that all I want is for her to make another film as soon as possible.

            The music that Ms. Cravalho and Mr. Johnson sing is composed by Lin-Manuel Miranda or Hamilton fame.  Mr. Miranda, a Manhattan native, brings a sense of joy, pride, and love to the songs he composes, combing a hip-hop rhythm and lyrical expression that does not seem to have a contemporary peer.  If you were to only half-listen, you would be moved to recognize traditional Hawaiian instruments, but to take note of the lyrics is to access a part of your soul that you could never describe.

                                                                                                             (Disney, 2016)

            At first glance, Mr. Clements’ and Mr. Musker’s film appears to be another in a long line of Disney princess films.  At a slightly closer look, it is another in a short line of Disney princess films in which the princess goes on a journey of self-discovery and triumphs with a new understanding of herself, the world, and her independence from a romantically submissive relationship. But at a deep, true examination of this beautiful film reveals the fondness and compassion with which the cast, writers, and directors approached this story. If there was hesitation of the Hawaiian people to hand over their culture—their story—to the creative team when they started to make this film, I hope they feel that the entire world now feels a respect and affection for a folklore that was already a wonderful piece of art has been recreated into a film that will live on through Disney history.

Title: Moana

Release date: 23 November 2017

Director: Robert Clements and John Musker

Writers: Jared Bush

Stars: Auli’i Cravalho, Dwayne Johnson, Lin-Manuel Miranda

Rating: PG

Category: Comedy, Animated, Musical, Adventure

Run Time: 1 hr 47 min

TV Review - Spaced: A Witty Mash-up of Movie References and Fart Jokes

Forward

            This is a review I wrote as an example of a TV Review for my Cinema class.  I had them read the review and discuss what they thought of the tv show without even seeing the first episode; whether or not they would watch it.  They all said that they would and how excited they were to see this show. I showed them the first episode of season 1.  

Spaced

A Witty Mash-up of Movie References and Fart Jokes

            Imagine Strangers on a Train, but without all the messy business about killing each other’s spouse.  Imagine Friends, but without the constant annoying “will-they-won’t-they” between Ross and Rachel.  Imagine your best mate’s steady stream-of-conscious flow of movie quotes and references.  Put all of these images into a blender and season with marijuana, booze, cigarettes, and a dash of tea.  Bake for 25 minutes and you will have the TV show, Spaced, premiering on BBC4 this September.

                                                                                                     (Spaced DVD promo photo)

            This surprisingly witty comedy—even with the frequent toilet humor—is sure to delight anyone who feels like they are stuck in limbo.  Somewhere between Millennial and Generation X lays Daisy (Jessica Hynes nee Stevenson) and Tim (Simon Pegg).  These twenty-somethings find themselves homeless when they meet as total strangers, so they do the only logical thing; they lie about being a couple so they can rent an apartment.

             Director Edgar Wright, famous for his “Cornetto Trilogy,” directs Mr. Pegg of the same franchise and Ms. Hynes (Harry Potter & the Order of the Pheonix, The Rainbow) through a series of snags and near misses as they try to keep their plutonic relationship a secret from their landlady, Marsha (Julia Deakin), who is more oblivious than keen, probably due to the cigarettes and copious amounts of booze she swills.

                                                                                                    (Season 1 Episode 1: "Beginnings" with Jessica Hynes and Simon Pegg)

            Mr. Pegg and Ms. Hynes have such chemistry with each other that the rapid dialogue seems effortless, which it should since they developed the scripts for BB4.  The most apparent thing that leaps from the script is the absolute fondness of classic films and film styles.  These playful send-ups will keep any movie buff either swooning with excitement or groaning with obvious contempt that they hadn’t thought of this first. 

            While the references are wonderful to see in script and dialogue, it is Mr. Wright’s true study of film genre and technique that make these references leap off the page and into the audience’s face.  Mr. Wright’s direction is innovative and seems to mirror the constant movement and anxiety-riddled twenty-something lifestyle.  With no scene ever really finishing—but rather sliding into the next—he keeps the audience engaged for the full 24 minute episodes.  He knows how to edit the show in order to make everything feel as if it is a metaphor for the way these young people experience life: ironically. 

            A supporting cast of characters, which could have easily been 2-dimensional plot pushers, are rich, vibrant, and full of their own special brand of neuroses.  Tim’s best friend, played by Mr. Pegg’s true life best friend and “Cornetto” co-star, Nick Frost (Paul, Tintin) with such precision that he is both a military wanna-be and lovable dolt.  Daisy’s friend, Twist (Katy Carmichael) provides a dynamic foil for Daisy. Ms. Carmichael’s performance, while grating at times, resembles your friend that you secretly think keeps you around because you are fatter than she is in photos.  Finally, there is Tim and Daisy’s neighbor, Bryan.  This starving artist played by Mark Heap (Stardust, World’s End) is an archetype that we all poke fun at when we want to feel superior in our sense of style and taste.

            Do yourself a favor; set aside time to watch each episode a few times to catch all the subtle film references.  And remember that this show is not for the high-brow, sophisticated palette.  It is a bag of crisps and a solid stout (or two...or four) with your best mate laughing at each other's bodily functions.  So take off your monocle and live a little.  Put on your best beanie and choker necklace and get Spaced.

Title: Spaced Airing Date: 24 September 1999 (UK) Director: Edgar Wright Writers: Simon Pegg, Jessica Hynes Stars: Simon Pegg, Jessica Hynes, Nick Frost, Mark Heap, Katy Carmichael, Julia Kline Rating: TV-M Category: Comedy Run Time: 25 minutes

Film Review: The Last Five Years (2014) "Pain of Last Five Years Leaves Audiences Feeling Satisfied"

Pain of Last Five Years Leaves Audiences Feeling Satisfied

In everyone’s life there is that one break up that devastated us to the core.  The girlfriend that stands you up on Valentine’s Day or the boyfriend that leaves you through a sincere post-it note.  This is not unique.  No matter what the turmoil, the heartache will one day make great fodder for a story to tell on another date.  This, too, is not unique.  How we tell that story and how we cast ourselves in the tale—that is what defines us.  The film, Last Five Years, written for the screen and directed by Richard Lagravenese, chronicles a five year relationship in a unique, albeit confusing, way.

From the very beginning, the story makes no secret of its end.  In fact, that is partially the point. Like a magic trick performed in reverse and slow motion, Jamie (Jeremy Jordan) and Kathy (Anna Kendrick) tell their own versions of their five year relationship.  But while Jamie tells the story in chronological order, from when they first hook up, to when he says the final “goodbye,” Kathy tells the story in reverse, from the day they separated to the day they met.  The first scene of the film opens with Kathy desolate and alone in the couple’s unrealistically affordable New York City apartment, reading a letter in which Jamie asks for a divorce.

Ms. Kendrick (Pitch Perfect, Into the Woods) brings her expected sardonic humor to the role and somehow worms her way into our hearts.  Mr. Jordan of TV’s Smash has harder time holding onto the audience’s empathy as the story unravels.  With their mastered belting voices and witty ad libs, Mr. Jordan and Ms. Kendrick attack the daunting challenge of signaling the leaps through time to the audience with very little help.

Screenwriter and director Lagravenese (P.S. I Love You, Freedom Writers) provides few visual cues—a wedding band, a dress that is complete in one scene but being sewn in the next—that help the audience acclimate themselves to the timeline.  Unfortunately, the cues take time to appear and, by the time they do, the audience has gotten lost and confused.

For what he lacks in time travelling prowess, Lagravenese uses every ounce of the schmaltz that we have seen in his past films to endear Ms. Kendrick and Mr. Jordan to the audience throughout the film.  Lagravenese translates songs, which on stage would be soliloquies, into a dramatic dialogue where only one person speaks at a time. Even when the other is singing, the two co-stars are still working their damnedest to show that they are in this scene by god and will not be over shadowed.

By far, the music and lyrics are the best thing of the film.  Composer Jason Robert Brown has created a semi-autobiographical musical that places Jamie, the character based on himself, in the role of both villain and prince charming.  Unafraid of risky choices, Brown never sacrifices storytelling to clever composition and yet balances a very warm and string-filled score with the lyrics that challenge the likes of Sondheim.  

Though some of the pain felt by the audience is more frustration with trying to sleuth out the chronology of a scene in the five year relationship, the cast of The Last Five Years reaches out, grabs the audience by the hand, and says, “Come.  See what it was like for me.”  Despite the confusing nature of the tale, you feel as if a friend—a dear friend like Ms Kendrick or that college buddy like Mr. Jordan—is telling you their version of the break up that left them ruined for others.

Title: The Last Five Years

Release date: 13 February 2015

Director: Richard Lagravenese

Writers: Jason Robert Brown (based on the musical play by), Richard LaGravenese (screenplay)

Stars: Anna Kendrick, Jeremy Jordan

Rating: PG – 13

Category: Comedy, Musical, Drama, Romance

Run Time:1h 34min

Film Review - Florence Foster Jenkins (2016) "Love and Devotion to the Worst Singer in the World"

(This is another film review I wrote back in August.  I know I am posting stuff that most have already seen, but like another Streep character has said, "No excuses. No apologies!" Also, with some Golden Globes and Oscar nominations, if you haven't seen it, get on it.)

Love and Devotion to the Worst Singer in the World

            “People may say I can’t sing,” said Madame Florence.  “But they cannot say that didn’t sing.”  And sing she did.  With all her heart and soul, she sang.  Unfortunately, as one critic of her 1944 Carnegie Hall performance very bluntly put it: “She is the worst singer in the world.”  The film, Florence Foster Jenkins, starring Meryl Streep as the title aria-attacker, and Hugh Grant as her devoted husband, St. Clair Bayfield, is a story that shows what enthusiasm to one’s passion looks like. 

            At its very heart, the film chronicles the last year of Jenkins’ life in New York City.  As a founder of several society clubs, Jenkins had the means and opportunity to influence the music world of New York.  Jenkins revives her dreams of singing in concert. Soon after hiring a new pianist, Mr. Cosmé McMoon played by Big Bang Theory’s Simon Helberg, and working with the head vocal coach from the Metropolitan Opera House, she finds confidence in her voice even though the audience and Mr. McMoon enjoy a good laugh at her expense.

            Very quickly, the audience learns that Bayfield (Grant) has been protecting her ego. He says that he and she “live in a happy world,” but after Bayfield learns that Jenkins has produced an record and scheduled a concert at Carnegie Hall without his knowledge, that happy world is put at risk.  With her voice becoming more and more public, Bayfield fears that the “mockers and scoffers” will shatter Jenkins’ fragile heart.

            One of the most touching things about this movie is the care and love the entire production takes to laud Jenkins for her courage and devotion to the world of culture and art.  Director, Stephen Frears (Philomena, The Program, The Queen), would have had a very easy time making a comedy that puts Jenkins at the butt of the joke. He avoids this trap by creating a  tenderness that seeps through every moment with her, allowing the audience to become another faithful devotee of Jenkins, hoping along with Bayfield that the dreadful reviews will not be seen.  Streep delivers nothing but the best, showing the audience what true passion for music is. 

            One of the most striking performances is from Helberg who, with a quiet and meek persona, mirrors the audience’s reactions to Jenkins—first, with his discomfort at her skill, then his loyalty to her as a patron, and finally his love for her as a friend.  The most remarkable moment of this affection is in Mr. McMoon’s studio apartment—Jenkins sitting at the piano, and McMoon standing at attention by his patron’s side, not out of distress, but out of respect and a fondness that cannot be put into words.

            Florence Foster Jenkins should not have sung professionally, but what she lacked in talent, she made up for in passion and courage that would outshine the very greatest of the music world.  It is obvious that the cast and crew refused to make a joke out of the woman.  They honor her for everything she loved and believed in. 

Title: Florence Foster Jenkins

Release date: August 12, 2016

Director: Stephen Frears

Writers: Nicholas Martin

Stars: Meryl Streep, Hugh Grant, Simon Helberg

Rating: PG – 13

Category: Biography, Comedy, Drama

Run Time:1h 51min

Film Review - Ghostbusters (2016) "The Girls Have Got This, So Back Off"

(This is a review I wrote back in August after seeing the film for the first time.)

The Girls Have Got This, So Back Off

                                                                                                    (Sony Entertainment, 2016)

            With summer days growing longer, mostly due by the heat and exhausting humidity, there are not many things more enjoyable than an escape.  Finally, this summer has a decent escape in Ghostbusters.  Writers, Katie Dippold (The Heat, Parks & Recreation) and Paul Feig (Bridesmaids), who also directs, nail the right mix of nostalgia and innovation. 

            Kristen Wiig, Melissa McCarthy, and Kate McKinnon play scientists who speak the obligatory science jargon while still making the rather simple plot seem more than “there are ghosts that need busting, these chicks can handle it.”

            After meeting up with Leslie Jones playing a metro worker who also moonlights as an amateur NYC historian, the women run up against the expected haters, from the mayor to internet trolls who say, “No b*****s ain’t gonna bust no ghosts,” which seems to be a direct nod to the backlash at the gender-swapped remake.  These meta-moments are some of the best jokes in the movie. 

            The new team investigates several paranormal sightings, which eventually lead them to the comically inept villain, played by Neil Casey (also a SNL alum).  He desires to lead the ghost army, which apparently includes pilgrims and revolutionary war soldiers. 

            With Wiig and McCarthy firmly in the driver’s seat of the movie, McKinnon and Jones do their best to be seen from the back seat.  McKinnon, who will probably be crowned Queen of the Nerds, steals many a scene with her off-beat style that made her famous on SNL.  Jones, on the other hand, is not given nearly enough to do on screen to show off her talents and comedic rhythm.

            Feig does double duty as the film’s director.  He does not forget the central theme of the film, which is “the girls can do this, so back off!”  He treats the friendship between Wiig and McCarthy’s characters as any other “chick comedy,” with the difference being that there is not a typical handsome male lead wedged between the friends. 

Feig also does a remarkable job with not allowing the Ghostbusters’ male secretary, Kevin, played hilariously by Chris Helmsworth (Thor, The Avengers), to take over any scene.  Unfortunately, Kevin does keep making the same joke—“I’m so dumb, but thank goodness I’m hot”—which gets old after about 15 minutes.

Several moments of CGI became a little too cartoony at times, but overall the film’s look and feel knock it out the park and fit in with the classic Ghostbusters franchise.  A special shoutout to the puppet designer, Rick Lazzarini (Ghostbusters II), for making some of the characters who could have been extras in the original 1984 Ghostbusters.

            What this movie does expertly—besides opening minds to the possibility of ] a female comedy can be funny without stereotypical plots—is giving the audience a movie that they can watch, enjoy, and relax.  The theater’s air conditioner doesn’t hurt, but the female leads of the film are the real breath of fresh air of this film.

Title: Ghostbusters

Release date: July 19, 2016

Director: Paul Feig

Writers: Katie Dippold, Paul Feig

Stars: Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Kate McKinnon, Leslie Jones

Rating: PG – 13

Category: Action, Comedy, Fantasy

Run Time:1h 56min

Film Review - Loving (2016) "The Soft Voices of 'Loving' Are a Timely Reminder Of Change"

The Soft Voices of Loving Are a Timely Reminder Of Change

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            There is nothing at all exciting about Richard and Mildred Loving. They are a married Virginia couple who raise three children.  Richard (Joel Edgerton) works as a brick layer and fixes the family car, while Mildred (Ruth Negga) deftly cares for their home.  They eat with their extended family.  They laugh with friends.  They watch The Andy Griffith Show.

            If the Lovings were married today, a film of their lives would be tedious and dull, but they were not married in the times we live in.  They lived in 1960’s Virginia and Richard, a white man, broke a miscegenation law set in 1691 when he married Mildred, a black woman, who was pregnant with their first child. 

            The film written and directed by Jeff Nichols follows the first—and arguably the most important—9 years of the Lovings’ marriage.  Shortly after being married in Washington D.C., the sheriff and his deputies arrest the Lovings in the middle of the night (after what appears to be an illegal breaking and entering).  Their case is sent all the way to the Supreme Court of the United States; all the while the family is forced to live in fear of the law and their own neighbors.

            This film is unapologetically sparse on dialogue.  In fact the most the audience hears out of Mr. Edgerton is a few hushed sentences at a time.  Mr. Nichols creates a world that looks like your grandparent’s old photographs—full of familiar, yet other worldly charm.  While other characters are loud and at times physically aggressive, the Lovings hold a quiet reserve that draws the audience to them.  Not a punch is thrown—even when Richard’s black friend confronts him about how Richard knows what it feels like “to be black now.” Every significant moment of this film is accomplished with a shy stare, yet it is completely without timidity.  Mr. Edgerton and Ms. Negga are so telling in their looks toward their ridiculers, toward their lawyers, and even toward each other, that the audience is never without understanding of what Richard and Mildred are thinking.

            Very rarely does an audience see a timelier and more far reaching film.  The Lovings’ story goes beyond 1960s Virginia and far beyond the past’s controversy with interracial marriage.  In a divisive time such as now, with the threat of returning to times that some feel were great and others feel were oppressive, Mr. Nichols bring Richard and Mildred’s story to us to say that we should not be looking back towards the past as a golden memory, arguing that not all laws that are on the books were devised by men who wanted equality. Loving shows us that the only way to make progress is to look forward and, yes, the irony of using a film about a couple from over 70 years ago to illustrate the need to look to the future is not lost on this writer.

            Many people will turn away from this movie because there are no great speeches—no declarations of outrage. But in a world that is full of deafening voices being raised for a cause, Loving’s poised softness—the Loving’s tender and graceful quiet—may be the strongest message for equality of our time.

Title: Loving

Release date: 4 November 2016

Director: Jeff Nichols

Writers: Jeff Nichols

Stars: Richard Edgerton, Ruth Negga

Rating: PG – 13

Category: Drama, Romance

Run Time: 2 hours 3 minutes




P.S.  
            This is not included in my review, but during the film, there is a scene when Time Magazine photographer Grey Villet (played by Man of Steel's Michael Shannon) comes to take pictures of the couple.  

            Here is the link to see the real pictures from the real Grey Villet: Grey Villet Photos for Time Magazine

Film Review - Passengers (2016) "Passengers Take the Wheel of a Ship with No Destination"

Passengers Take the Wheel of a Ship with No Destination

                                                                                                        (Sony Pictures Entertainment)

There is nothing more thrilling to a young teenager than the first time they have the entire house to themselves for the weekend. Mom and dad away for a trip.  Siblings off with friends. Nothing but you, the TV, and all the junk food you can fit into your gob. You feel excitement of all the possibilities. For the first day. By the middle of Saturday, you are wandering the house. By the time your family arrives late Sunday night, you are desperate for human contact.  But what if that human contact never came? You were stuck in this house for the rest of your natural life.  No one to talk to.  No one new to meet.

             Just you. 

                        All. 

                                     Alone.

Passengers raises these questions when a pair of space travelers, Jim (Chris Pratt) and Aurora (Jennifer Lawrence), are woken up from cryogenic sleep 90 years before they reach the destination of a new planet.  Like teens home alone, Jim and Aurora do not think of the consequences and soon after loving the freedom, they struggle to look at the ship and even each other.

Mr. Pratt and Ms. Lawrence do a remarkable job keeping the audience engaged in a a script by Jon Spaihts (collaborator on Doctor Strange andPrometheus) that does not seem to know where it wants to go.  At times it leans towards a stalker thriller as Mr. Pratt lurks over Ms. Lawrence’s shoulder believing that he is the only man she could love.  And he is…literally.  He’s the only man available.  At other times the film tries to take on a more rom-com approach as Ms. Lawrence attempts to write a new memoir about her journey through the stars with her new beau.  

At no time does the director Morten Tyldum (The Imitation Game) give a clear indication whether we should like or dislike Jim and his manipulation of Aurora’s life.  Nor are we given a clue to whether Aurora is anything more than a plot devise for Mr. Pratt to play off of.  Ms. Lawrence is (pardon the pun) stellar, but the two-dimensional writing does not give her much to work with.

The high point is the ship itself, the Avalon, which seems to be designed after the most luxurious cruise ship in the world.  But even the ritziest of cruise ships can feel like Alcatraz after a while.  The sleek hallways and concourses run the length of the 1000-meter ship and create a sense of the grand design of the R.M.S. Titanicjuxtaposed with the sleek modern efficiency of the U.S.S. Enterprise's brig.

The outstanding Michael Sheen, as an android with a human upper half and mechanical lower half, seems to be both inn keeper and prison warden.  He provides drinks and free advice to his only two customers, but always keeps a weathered eye on his two captives.

Yet while the film raises the questions about loneliness and the desire to make human contact, it fails to answer them fully or rather, at all.  After its dramatic twist about halfway through, the film leaves the audience feeling uneasy with the romance that has blossomed betweenm and Aurora. Even with a blessing from a briefly cameo-ed Laurence Fishburn, this relationship never seems to redeem itself.  At what point does this story stop being one of a lonely guy who is persistent until he gets the girl and start becoming one of a relationship based upon lies and deceit?

I suppose the answer given by this film is never.  The plot is creepy and self-serving, never dealing with the morality of Jim's choices.  And why should they?  90 years spent in a relationship with the man who doomed you to die in space seems to be an excellent moral fairy tale every child dreams of.  An unsettling conclusion to a film that had potential to explore to full depths the despair of isolation and the dark possibilities of loneliness. But like a teenager with no adult to govern them, the filmmakers made poor choices and the only despair at the end of the film is felt by the audience wanting human contact as the leave the theater.

 

 

Title: Passengers
Release date: 21 December 2016
Director: Morten Tyldum
Writers: Jon Spaihts
Stars: Jennifer Lawrence, Chris Pratt
Rating: PG – 13
Category: Adventure, Drama, Romance
Run Time: 1 hour 56 min