I don't always see films in which A-Ha's Take On Me is sung badly by one of the male characters, but when I do, I like to watch two in the same week. Mind you, the same also goes for Martin Freeman struggling under the weight of an accent that's not his own, so Whiskey Tango Foxtrot makes that a double occurrence, too. Especially since Freeman's also the one making Morten Harket spin in his premature grave…
This adaptation of the bestselling memoirs of TV war-correspondent Kim Barker goes the classic melodramatic route of peppering its first act with gags and witty asides, largely to be used as a direct comparison against the third act where all the drama and poignancy is. The problem is that WTF is neither as funny nor poignant as it'd like to think it is, and that's underlined by Tina Fey and Margot Robbie over-acting in almost every one of their scenes. Although the situation in Afghanistan was (is) extreme, gallows-humour requires a delicate touch, and there are many gradations of drama/comedy required in the emotional roller-coaster which is 'the modern war film'. While Fey/Robbie certainly don't de-rail that roller-coaster, their performances are either on one or ten, leaving it to the supporting cast to fill in the blanks. It also doesn't help that Tina Fey has a habit of pulling a comedy-face after delivering each joke*1; you can take the girl out of SNL…
The film works on a bare-bones level, and I did care for the characters (even the aforementioned Martin Freeman's one, despite his vocal performance being a needless insult to Scotland), but I always felt like I should be caring more, somehow. I get the impression that a documentary on Kim Barker's work would be far more affecting, not least because it wouldn't feel the need to try so hard.
While Whiskey Tango Foxtrot skilfully (and thankfully) avoids flag-waving, the film struggles with the humanitarian side of modern warfare, which is pretty much its sole remit, when you think about it.
Co-directors John Requa and Glenn Ficarra do their best of making unlikeable characters valued and unbearable situations compelling, but I can't help feel that a lot has been lost on the journey from page to screen…
The cinema's not going to be essential to enjoying this, no.
Personally, I don't think so.
Although I seem to be in a minority.
No, everyone on-board here has been more focused in other movies.
Probably not.
Definitely not.
Level 2: Alfred Molina turns up in this, and he was in Raiders of the Lost Ark along with that Harrison 'Solo' Ford chap...
And seriously though, look at that…
Whiskey Tango Foxtrot. Seat F14. Bastards.
I saw five movies that day (a new personal record), and all I wanted was seat F12 for my Cineworld Ticket-Stub Bingo win. But not only was that seat taken when I booked, the guy was already in it when I got into the auditorium. The only person in there. Doing a crossword, of all things. Like the fucker had been parked-up all day*2, just so that I wouldn't win the prize.
What an absolute bastard. Because my showings were so close together, I couldn't book them all online as the system classes anything starting within 45 minutes of the previous film as 'overlapping', so only the on-site staff can over-ride that. You can't plan this shit, you know; you only win Cineworld Ticket-Stub Bingo with a combination of luck and skill.
I've heard the prize is fantastic, although no-one there will tell me what it is.
But I suppose there's always next time…
*1 Although Fey's to-camera mugging pales in comparison to the 'Kabul's first female driver' spot, in which she watches the joke occur and then literally explains to the audience why it's funny. And unlike a Stewart Lee routine, it's not given any new level of nuance by this happening.
*2 He hadn't, obviously, as I'd seen Angry birds in the seat between us both not half an hour earlier. But still.
DISCLAIMERS:
• ^^^ That's dry, British humour, and most likely sarcasm or facetiousness.
• Yen's blog contains harsh language and even harsher notions of propriety. Reader discretion is advised.
• This is a personal blog. The views and opinions expressed here represent my own thoughts (at the time of writing) and not those of the people, institutions or organisations that I may or may not be related with unless stated explicitly.
Okay, I'm very late to the party with this one, but Strange Magic didn't get a particularly robust release in the UK, least of all around these parts. Lucasfilm's first standalone animated feature had already been through the critical mill when it finally arrived on these shores six months after its US release; a reputation which saw it relegated largely to weekend-morning showings, a slot it's still sporadically filling now (hence me finally catching up with it).
It's no secret round these parts that I'm a firm advocate of the godfather of Star Wars, but even I become hesitant when one of the film's marketing lines is "from the mind of George Lucas". Because so was the Holiday Special, as well we know. Strange Magic is a tale of good and evil, love and sorcery, all filtered through the medium of hi-res CGI animation and the jukebox-musical. Yeah, you were onboard until that last bit, weren't you? Hmm. The story centres around two fairy-princess sisters trying to find happiness in the magic kingdom, while the Bog King tries to "ban love" (familiar?) by destroying all the forest's Primrose flowers, which are used to make the Love Potion™ (the mystical equivalent of hypnotic-Rohypnol apparently, so not necessarily a bad thing in itself).
The film bears all the stylistic hallmarks we've come to expect from the fantasy-genre, gorgeously rendered in pixels with lithe voice-acting to match, courtesy of Evan Rachel Wood, Meredith Anne Bull and Alan Cumming (along with many others). But a one-track story interspersed by heavily-produced pop songs makes the film unwatchable. The arrangements aren't necessarily bad in themselves, but the disconnect between polished-musical and the narrative-genre just isn't bridged by the film which wants to wield them both. It's not even that the film doesn't make much sense, but that it's not interesting enough in the first place to try and make sense of.
The final product plays out like 2013's Epic locked in a karaoke bar with only absinthe and Haribo Tangfastics to keep them going. Each time the inhabitants of Dingly-Dell launch into Sugar Pie Honey Bunch you'll be wanting to punch your own face off.
A fantasy tale with as little ambition as it has imagination, this bad Disney fan-film is the dad-dancing equivalent of a West-End rock-opera*1 refitted for a provincial theatre.
As much as it pains me to hate on a Lucasfilm project, Strange Magic is dreadful.
Oh, I have no idea. I'd normally cite Dark Crystal or Willow, but I don't want to drag them down by association.
No.
No.
No.
Depends entirely on which aspect we're disagreeing on.
But, yes.
Didn't notice one, but I spent a lot of time trying to punch my own face off.
Level 1: Ungle George's pawprints are on this project.
*1 Although to be fair, that's a charge which can be levelled against most rock-operas; especially when paired with the 'jukebox' format, the laziest of all musicals whereby the writer doesn't have to actually write any music.
DISCLAIMERS:
• ^^^ That's dry, British humour, and most likely sarcasm or facetiousness.
• Yen's blog contains harsh language and even harsher notions of propriety. Reader discretion is advised.
• This is a personal blog. The views and opinions expressed here represent my own thoughts (at the time of writing) and not those of the people, institutions or organisations that I may or may not be related with unless stated explicitly.
Monsters University (Second-pass / 2D)
Cert: U / 110 mins / Dir. Dan Scanlon
Well, there's really not much more to add, watching MU again. Nothing new jumped out at me thematically, although I can say that it was just as much fun to watch a second time. The script, performances and animation are all absolutely flawless. Again, only got to see it in 2D; again, more by circumstance than judgement.
One thing that did keep tickling me, though: Is this a Hutt?
It wasn't so much Jabba he reminded me of, as a slightly older version of Rotta The Hutt. He keeps appearing throughout the film, and I first noticed him jostling for position at the safety line when the young ones visit Monsters Inc's scare-floor. In the absence of any overt Star Wars references, this'll do nicely.
Anyhow, if you only see one animated family movie this summer, make it this one.
In tangentially related news, the short The Blue Umbrella runs before the movie. While it's technically beautiful, it didn't connect with me the way that Paperman did, and yet the soundtrack from it has been stuck in my head for days.
Yep.
Yep.
Yep.
Cinema.
Yep.
Yep.
Yepe.
As a third installment is doubtlessly going through the first stages of assembly as we speak, what would you like to see from it?
DISCLAIMERS:
• ^^^ That's dry, British humour, and most likely sarcasm or facetiousness.
• Yen's blog contains harsh language and even harsher notions of propriety. Reader discretion is advised.
• This is a personal blog. The views and opinions expressed here represent my own thoughts (at the time of writing) and not those of the people, institutions or organisations that I may or may not be related with unless stated explicitly.
So if you were going to produce what many would see as an unnecessary sequel to what is generally considered to be a modern classic… I mean if you absolutely had to… how would you avoid re-hashing the ideas that made the first movie so great and undoing any resolution which made it such a satisfying story?
You'd make a film like Monsters University. Win.
By engineering a prequel which alludes to (but isn't held back by) the plot points of the first movie, Pixar have given themselves the blank slate needed to make the movie work at a story-level. The plot itself isn't outstanding in any way (in fact it occurred to me that structurally, it's essentially an animated version of The Internship), but it's carried out with such warmth and respect to the original movie that it doesn't matter.
The chemistry between Billy Crystal and John Goodman is the heart of the film, and their enjoyment really shines through their performances. The rest of the voice-cast support ably, and with one exception*1 the older members of the audience will be able to enjoy the characters without voice-spotting any exaggerated performances. With M.U., Pixar have demonstrated that a follow-up movie doesn't have to be straight-to-DVD fodder.
The real high-point, for me, is the animation. There's a nice transition early on, between the world of child-Mike Wazowski, with its boosted colour-palette and slightly stylised props, and teenager-Mike, which looks like its been filmed on an actual set. Pixar really have out-done themselves; the environments are rendered to a photo-realistic level that'll be hard to top, even so far as subtly altering the colours for the change of seasons without spelling out "It's winter!" to the audience. The only down-side is that I now want to see a re-rendered version of Monsters Inc.
Performance times meant that Mrs Blackout and I saw this in 2D; I'll definitely be giving it another watch to see how the 3D's been applied.
Monsters University is another triumph for Pixar, proving once again that U-rated films can be funny, engaging and relevant.
More like this, please.
Yes. Although the contents of that trailer aren't in the film. Yeah, I don't quite understand either.
Yes.
Yes.
For the quality of animation if nothing else, cinema.
Yes.
Yes.
YES! And in a film about monsters and scaring, it's pretty awesome to see it used in a scene with a someone polishing a floor.
The trailer for Disney's upcoming Planes features More Human Than Human by White Zombie.
What the hell has happened to this world? Is nothing sacred?
*1 To address the elephant in the room, Helen Mirren seems to be taking over Judi Dench's role of 'being wheeled out to play herself with little-to-no variation'. Her presence isn't unwelcome, but it's starting to get a bit samey.
DISCLAIMERS:
• ^^^ That's dry, British humour, and most likely sarcasm or facetiousness.
• Yen's blog contains harsh language and even harsher notions of propriety. Reader discretion is advised.
• This is a personal blog. The views and opinions expressed here represent my own thoughts (at the time of writing) and not those of the people, institutions or organisations that I may or may not be related with unless stated explicitly.
