Category Archives: Movie Reviews

Movie Review: Frozen

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Hello, Fluffsters!

Happy Monday! Guess what? It’s Christmas Week!

Anywho. So yesterday, for my Christmas present, my sister took me to see Disney’s Frozen. So, (SPOILER ALERT!) here’s a:

Review: Disney’s Frozen.

First of all, I loved it. I found it significantly better than Disney’s Tangled; it was amazing. Especially as I was watching it with my sister. Which brings me to the first part of the review:

Basic Summary

This is very loosely based on Hans Christian Andersen’s Snow Queen. Very loosely. Very. As in, it had a couple of elements, such as slivers of “something” entering one of the main character’s heart, and there being a queen of the snow & ice and stuff. And it’s based in roughly the right location.

The basic premise is that there are two princess sisters. The older one (Elsa) has a power to control and create snow and ice. Way towards the beginning, she accidentally hurts her little sister (Anna). This shapes the entire rest of the movie. Anna’s memories of Elsa’s powers are removed, and Elsa needs to try to control her powers, in order to not hurt people. This basically means that Elsa blocks Anna out, in order to protect her.

Fast-forward a few years. The parents die. (It’s Disney- what did you expect?) Fast-forward a few more years. Elsa is of age, and is to be crowned queen. It’s an eventful day for her. Not only is she coronated, but she also actually talks with her sister, “interacts” with people, and accidentally unleashes a big winter storm over her land, mid-summer.

Woops.

Yup. And she runs away.

The rest of the movie goes on from there, as Anna goes to find Elsa, and hopefully “bring back summer.”

It’s a very character and situation driven story, as opposed to plot. The plot itself is very simple, but the situation gives tension, and the characters give depth to the “plot.”

The methods Disney used to bring the depth and tension, though, are amazing.

Sound & Visual

Ok. So as I’m sure you’re aware, Disney got an excellent acting cast, including Idina Menzel (Elphaba from Wicked) as Elsa. Disney also made stunning graphics and sound effects / music.

Seriously.

The opening songs and sounds are fantastic. It starts with Scandinavian choral music. Then it goes to a song from ice-cutters about nothing more dangerous than “a frozen heart.” The sounds is beautifully open, somewhat minor, and very folksongish. This, of course, sets the context for Elsa’s powers. “Beauty and Danger” are found in ice, and, again, nothing is more dangerous.

The opening scene also lays the expectations for the animation. It is beautiful. The artists truly captured the treacherous beauty of ice. This shows up throughout the entire movie. The ice reflects, it looks cold, and (even in 2D), it has so much depth and detail. Seriously, it is stunning.

The opening scene was great. It wasn’t the best of the movie, though.

The songs keep going on. So much character depth is given through the songs. Anna’s loneliness and Elsa’s fear and trapped feeling all shine through with the music. The two princesses have a couple of duets, which are very wonderfully orchestrated. (The background is full, and the harmonies the two girls form is gorgeous.)

The most iconic scene, and the one that actually truly got me interested in the movie, is one that Disney itself released to YouTube. (I personally think this was brilliant marketing on their part- it did get me and my sister into the theater…) This scene comes shortly after Elsa accidentally loses control and reveals her powers to the world, and therefore runs off. This is one of the most beautiful scenes in the movie, both visually and musically.

Wait… Did the lyrics actually just include a reference to fractals?

Yup. Isn’t it amazing? It, like, actually treats the audience as intelligent!

In case you couldn’t figure it out, that’s one of my absolute favorite scenes. Ever. Seriously, I have watched that scene way too many times.

Ah. So you’re saying that this song, well, you can’t “let it go?”

…Very funny.

The Foley artists in that are also amazing to, don’t you think? The snow sounds like its freezing as Elsa creates it. The palace audibly shimmers. And aren’t those graphics stunning? I totally want to visit that palace.

In all, I was very satisfied with the movie. I went into the theater expecting to like a scene from the movie- the one I found on YouTube. Instead, I was drawn in from the very beginning. Disney captures a true sister relationship amazingly, and presents a wonderfully compelling story. Both my sister and I were impressed by the movie.

Personally, and I know I’m going to ruffle some feathers with this one, I think it was unequivocally better than Tangled. The characters were believable, the sister interactions were so good, the graphics and setting were beautiful, and the music was fantastic. I think I would probably give this a full five-star review for a kids movie. (It wasn’t “OMG THE BEST MOVIE EVA!!1!”, but it was really good.)

I highly recommend it.

I hope you have wonderful week!

Be Prepared for Creepy Disney…

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Note: If this is your first time to TotalFluff, please visit this brief explanation. Thanks!

Greetings, Readers! I bid you a joyous weekend!

Since there’s not much else for me to do, I’ve been exploring my new world (what you call the internet) again.

I ended up at my dear friend YouTube’s place, and came across a lovely gem.

It’s a surprisingly creepy deleted scene from Disney’s Lion King. There are several aspects of it that I like.

1) It includes extra information for why Nala left her family. Why would she leave the pridelands to seek probably nonexistent help, instead of just fighting against the tyranny? This scene explains that.

2) It ties The Lion King in with the Hamlet tradition even more strongly. There are some differences, of course, but I’ll let you watch the deleted scene before analyzing it further.

Isn’t that interesting?

Now, a bit of further analysis on the Hamlet tradition. Did you catch the line in there that was very close to “kill a king and marry his brother”? I concede, it’s a bit of a stretch. The line was actually “it’s like any other to murder a brother…” and then I missed the next several words. Given that Lion King is just Hamlet with Lions, though, I am seeing references even when they might not exist.

Another way in that the scene differs from traditional Hamlet: Scar should be more interested in Sarabi than Nala. I’m guessing that there would have been more of a problem with plot if Scar were, in fact, interested in Sarabi though.

But that deleted scene adds an interesting aspect, doesn’t it?

Movie Review: Tangled

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Note: If this is your first time to TotalFluff, please visit this brief explanation. Thanks!

Hello, Fluffsters! Happy Monday!

Ok, before I start commenting on my issues, I do want to give a full disclaimer: It’s a while since I’ve seen Tangled. I just did some artsy stuff dealing with Rapunzel, which reminded me of some of my issues with the movie, and so inspired this fluff post. Yeah. So, here ‘goes.

Movie Review: Disney’s Tangled

I enjoyed the movie. It had its good points. It also has its less phenomenal points, and I really don’t think it deserved the glowing praise all my friends gave it when it first came out in theaters. But it was a fun movie.

Characters

As usual with Disney movies, the “Furry Critter” stole the show. (The best characters were definitely the Animal Companions. Especially the horse.) The horse added great personality to the show, especially with his combination of horselike and unhorselike behaviors. I mean, really. You have a character that goes around hitting things/people with frying pans, and is addicted to apples. He’s extremely expressive, too, which just makes things better.

Flynn Rider is also a compelling character. He’s got a sense of humor, and clear motivation. All in all, he’s one of the better “princes charming” Disney’s come up with. (I’m looking at you, Charming from Disney’s Cinderella. You fall madly in love with a girl because she’s pretty?)

Rapunzel herself is a nice enough sort. Disney played off her innocence fairly well, especially towards the beginning. They also did a great job of showing her conflicting emotions about finally doing what she wants, and yet also knowing that she’s breaking every rule her “mother” gave her.

Mother Gothel is probably one of the weaker characters. Yes, she’s a selfish old meanie who takes advantage of an innocent for her own personal gain. But compared to other Disney villains? She’s actually quite tame. Especially towards the beginning. Ok, so she abducts the princess of the realm. She doesn’t have any sort of political motivation behind it, though. She just wants to live forever. I guess this puts her almost on the level of the Evil Stepmother from Cinderella. Even that Stepmother, though, was extremely unkind to Cinderella, in part for the purpose of political motivation.

So, just to clarify… You’re defending a villain as being “not that bad” because she just abducted the princess of the realm and held her against her will?

Hmm. So it would appear. I may need to get back to you on that.

Moving on.

Things I liked about the story

1) I really liked the “I have a dream” song. That was fantastic. And all of them achieving their dreams afterwords. I especially liked the Mime.

2) It was also a very cute story all in all.

3) Frying pans. Who knew, right? That was a clever touch.

4) The animal companions. As mentioned before, they stole the show.

5) It was clever how they showed Mother Gothel only loved the hair. If you look back at the movie, you’ll see that whenever Mother Gothel is “affectionate” (Rather, saying “I love you”) toward Rapunzel, she’s actually being affectionate towards Rapunzel’s hair. Go back. Rewatch if you must. It’s there, and it’s cool.

Things that could use some work / unanswered questions from Tangled

1) How long is Rapunzel’s hair, anyways? It seems to be of a flexible length. First it wraps around her tower and goes all the way to the ground and takes forever to brush her hair. Then she’s able to carry it around with her as she’s traveling. And she puts it into a braid that, while ridiculously long, isn’t ridiculously long enough. On that matter…

2) How is she not more muscular? Let’s face it. Hair ways a lot. Her poor neck!

3) Why does her hair lose its magic when cut? And how does it not when she brushes her hair? Judging from my own hair, and how much of it comes out whenever I brush/wash my hair, it’s a wonder Rapunzel made it to her 6th birthday with magical hair left, much left her 18th. Also, why can’t her hair’s magic restore her strand of formerly magic hair to its full glory?

But enough about hair. Mostly.

4) Why did Mother Gothel tell her when her birthday was? I mean, seriously. That’s sort of ridiculous. Especially since Gothel doesn’t even remember that it happens every year. And how did Rapunzel even learn about birthdays? She’s never seen anyone except Mother Gothel. How would she know about birthdays?

5) Social conventions in general. How on earth does Rapunzel know? I’m guessing it’s the innate Disney Princess-ness coming through. But even so, it’s silly. She shouldn’t be nearly as capable out in the real world, or have any sort of understanding about life in the real world as she does. Even Jasmine from Aladdin has a harder time adjusting to life outside her palace than Rapunzel did to adjusting to real life. It should definitely be the other way around.

Concluding Thoughs

So, all said and done, I did enjoy Tangled. I thought it was well done, and it was nice having Disney characters singing again. There are definitely some unanswered questions that are problematic though. At least from my perspective.

What about you Fluffsters? What are your thoughts on Tangled?

Movie Review: Monty Python Trailer

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Note: If this is your first time to TotalFluff, please visit this brief explanation. Thanks!

Hello, Fluffsters!

Yesterday, I saw one of the more amusingly epic things that I’ve seen in a while.

Oh no. Please tell me there’s not something that’s rivaling the fox song…

Oh, no. This isn’t a music video- it’s a trailer.

A… trailer? That’s what you’re excited about right now?

Well, you see, it’s not just a trailer. It’s a trailer of a movie that’s already been made, and that’s already a comedic classic. I’m talking, of course, about the Monty Python and the Holy Grail Modern Trailer that came out last Tuesday. (September 10.)

That actually doesn’t look to bad. Are you sure it’s a funny trailer?

Absolutely. The trailer is so serious, and for a movie that’s extremely ridiculous.

…The movie isn’t a serious movie?

Monty Python? Oh my, no. That’s the movie that brings you such lines as “Help, help, I’m being repressed!” and “Are you suggesting that coconuts migrate?” Trust me, it’s one of the sillier popular motion pictures around. In fact, with it being so silly, I’m very impressed with…

Ways the ‘modern trailer’ made Monty Python and the Holy Grail look like a serious movie…

1) The opening music. The combination of chorale and open-sounding percussion makes the tone a compelling adventure type sound.

2) The drum interjections. Throughout the course of the trailer, an emphatic beat comes in to emphasize “drama!” Since there are a few scenes in the movie that look dramatic, whoever made this trailer was able to take those, and emphasize the “Hey, this move looks awesome!” factor and make it appear that the entire movie is like that.

3) Other musical interjections. About thirty seconds in, there’s a rumbly-grindy-modern-y sounding noise reminiscent of rocks tumbling. This sound against the backdrop of a castle gives the impression that there will be epic sieges, possibly including tumbling castles.

3) The “subtitles”. “In a Kingdom of Despair…” some hovering text reads… This is remarkably similar to movie trailers like the one for “Master and Commander…” again, a dramatic serious film. Also, when you label something “kingdom of despair” and have dark music playing, people are going to believe that you mean it. Not that there are peasants who are basically Marxists, and provide a marvelous commentary on politics.

4) The out-of-context epicness. “There is a pestilence upon this land! Nothing is sacred!” “What is your name? And what is your quest?” and “I seek the finest and the bravest knights in the land to join me in my court at Camelot” all sound fantastic… outside of the movie. In the movie, those are actually usually followed by a fair bit of laughter from the audience. Similarly with all the sword fights.

All of those things combine to make a marvelous trailer that, while technically true, is so misleading it is hilarious. I highly recommend this trailer.

Questions about the new Harry Potter Universe Movie

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Note: If this is your first time to TotalFluff, please visit this brief explanation. Thanks!

Hello, Fluffsters! So…

I am so excited right now! J.K. Rowling is writing a screenplay for Warner Brothers, based on her book Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them!

This is going to be fantastic. I loved the book. Seriously. Alright, so part of it was because supposedly Ron, Harry, and Hermione had left notes in the margins, which added great witty commentary. I’m fairly sure this movie will be interesting, though.

And there are definitely some things I’m curious about with this new movies.

Questions I’m hoping will be answered

1) What is wizarding life like in America? According to the article, it starts in New York. That’s fantastic! Will we get to see any Quodpot? (The American version of Quidditch.) Do American wizards still wear robes? If so, what do they look like? I can’t wait to see!

2) When will this be released?! Is this something I should be looking for next year? Do I have time to save up money and audition for a part? (Speaking of which, how hard would it be to audition for the part of a patronus? Or a unicorn or thestral? Either of those three could be amusing to play…)

Wait, you’re trying to become an actress? That’s my job. Besides, the parts you just listed are CG. Or they’re going to find live animals.

Spoilsport.

3) Do American wizarding foods differ? Ok, so this could go under the “Questions about Wizarding Life in America” section. But it kind of deserves its own question, don’t you think? But I’m straying from the point. In Britain, they have Chocolate Frogs and Berty Botts. Do Americans as well? Or have the American wizards taken those foods and “perfected” them? (Do wizard fairs have deep-fried chocolate-frog-legs? That would be amusing… Or deep fried butterbeer? I know that deep fried coca cola is a thing where I’m originally from. On a stick, of course.) What would a wizard’s hamburger look like, too? Or pizza? Do they do special tricks with the pizza dough, since you can make things fly and whatnot?

4) What about “current events?” If this movie is taking place seventy years before Harry Potter, that would put it in the 1920s. There’s a lot of culture that everyone knows about from the ’20s. Will we get to see any of that? Does Newt know Gatsby?

Well, those are some of my questions. What about you? (Oh, and happy Friday! It’s now the weekend, yay!)

“The Fox”…

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Your world… I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again. WHAT IS UP WITH THE PLANET EARTH?

Uh, wow Fluffy! That’s a little more energetic than usual. What’s the cause of the outburst this time?

The song “The Fox.”

That’s what’s up.

Uh… “The Fox”?

Yes. This.

…That’s sort of catchy. And cute.

And that is what I just don’t get about your world…

What? It’s sort of silly, and very random. And it’s actually sort of charming how the singer pronounces the Duck’s noise more like “Quahk” rather than the traditional “Quack.”

But… it has no content!

Oh, at least it’s better than “Friday.” This song, at least, raises a valid question. What does the fox say? And besides that, much of what it says at the beginning is fairly accurate. You know, at least from our perspective.

It goes through and lists animal noises at the beginning. And then goes on for the rest of the song talking about what the fox might possibly say. Including whether or not foxes would communicate with horses by morse. Seriously. What is going on?

Well, what other language rhymes with “horse”? “Norse?” That’s just plainly idiotic. No fox would speak Norse.

But they might speak morse code? And horses might speak morse as well?

In the songwriters’ defense, they never claim that horses communicate back through morse.

…right. And that makes everything better.

Oh, good! I’m glad I could help.

What? No! I wasn’t serious.

Oh. My bad.

But the fox song apparently does raise a valid point. At least according to Wired.

Fine. I’ll just accept that your world is confusing, and try to let it go at that.

Good plan, that.

Especially since it’s the only one I can come up with. Well, that’s enough for right now. But anyways, Fluffsters, what are your reactions to the song “The Fox”?

How Animals Eat their Food: Amazing.

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Hello, Readers! Happy Saturday!

I’m sure that you’ve seen this YouTube video by now, but if you haven’t, you should totally watch it. It’s amazingly awesome.

Webmaster?

Hm?

WHY?!

…What?

Bu, wha, uh, I-

That’s odd… I think I broke Fluffy.

Gah!

Yup, definitely broke her.

Anyways, Happy Saturday!

(Bad) Movie Review: Santa Claus Conquers the Martians(!)

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I had a lot of fun on Saturday. Some friends organized a “so bad it’s good” movie night.

That… sounds horrifying.

No! It was really fun!

That’s the disturbing part…

Oh, no. Trust me. That’s not the disturbing part.

Redivka’s Radish. Please tell me you’re joking.

“Redivka’s Radish”?

Oh, that’s not an expression here…?

No. It’s not.

And no, I wasn’t exactly joking.

We chose the movie “Santa Claus Conquers the Martians.”

In the middle of March.

Yes.

Anyways… Heads up, SPOILERS AHEAD:

It starts off on Earth, with an interview with Santa Claus in the “North Pole.” You see his workshop, elven assistants, and toys.

Then you go to “Mars”. And OH. MY. WORD. It was extremely amusing. The producers decided, of course, that Martians are green. And so the Martians wear totally green, and have green skin paint, that was very poorly applied. It looked like it was peeling.

And they also had hats that were (I guess) supposed to be part of their bodies. Or something. But it had some of the campiest special effects I’ve seen. Ok, so it was a 1964 movie. Even so, the effects were awful by today’s standards.

Anyways, as it goes along, you meet the Martian Family. There are the male and female martian children: Bomar & Girmar. (Boy-Martian & Girl-Martian, anyone?) And also Momar, and Kimar. (Kimar’s the leader. So the entire family fits the rule.)

It’s like they didn’t even try to be original.

So anywho. The children Martians are supposedly depressed and stuff, because they’re watching the “earth programs” on the television. (Of course Martians have TV! Why wouldn’t they have stuff that looks like it’s from a 1960s American home?)

The “plot” truly starts when we discover that Martian children all over Mars are becoming depressed, because they are “not permitted to be children.” (One of the lines in there, from Bomar, is along the lines of “Father, what’s tenderness?”)

So the Martians decide to do what any sane Alien would do: Kidnap Santa, and bring him to Mars! (Nevermind the fact that he wouldn’t be able to breathe the Martian atmosphere, and vice versa. Or that it would take a very long time to make a one-way trip, let alone a round trip…)

So the Martians try to do so. They land on Mars, encounter two children who they then proceed to kidnap, (and whose acting quality, if possible, lowers the average acting ability dramatically) and then proceed to the North Pole.

Upon arrival at the North Pole, the children escape. They’re dressed for New York winter weather, and running around in the -91F North Pole. Seriously. The girl’s in tights, for crying out loud. And they can still run, and don’t mention how frigid it is!

Oh, right. They also come across a “polar bear”. Of all the bad special effects in the movie, that one totally takes the cake. It’s so obviously a man in a polar bear costume, that it’s hilarious. (Willing Suspension of Disbelief was definitely eaten by a polar bear, if it hadn’t already disappeared…)

They eventually capture Santa, who’s a very good sport about all this, and take him back to Mars. On the way, an evil martian who accompanied Kimar tries to kill Santa and the two children. And we hear a joke from Santa that will live in infamy: “Q: What’s soft and round and you put it on a stick and you toast it in a fire, and it’s green? A: A Martian-Mallow.”

Upon their arrival, Kimar shows Santa the toy workshop he’s built. The badguy escapes, and plans on causing mischief. A bit of chaos ensues. Finally, Santa persuades Kimar that one of the minor characters would make a decent Martian Santa, and then returns home to earth. And they all live happily ever after, or something.

Oh, and also randomly thrown in were Air-force stock-footage. You could always tell, because the film quality went dramatically up during those scenes.

END SPOILERS.

So, it was definitely an interesting move. What made it really amusing was watching it with friends who delighted in how bad it truly was. It’s worth watching, if you’re in a mood for a B (or C) rated movie.

…

I don’t know what to say.

You know, for an actress, you do claim to not know what to say a lot

Is that really too surprising? I’m used to having a script. Or at least a plot. It sounds like even this movie wouldn’t have given me either.

Haha, too true.

Anyways, Readers, happy Wednesday! I hope you enjoy the erst of your week.

Review: Disney’s Frozen.

Basic Summary

Sound & Visual

Unanswered Questions from Tangled

Movie Review: Disney’s Tangled

Characters

Things I liked about the story

Things that could use some work / unanswered questions from Tangled

Concluding Thoughs

Ways the ‘modern trailer’ made Monty Python and the Holy Grail look like a serious movie…

Questions I’m hoping will be answered