Saying the Lion King is great because it's a reworking of Hamlet misunderstands the entire appeal of Shakespeare--most of his plots were taken from other, earlier plays, and what made them great was his massive talent at language and characterization. Hamlet is a great play because it pulls the classic arthouse thriller move, where you fill a violent, basic story with the kind of philosophical asides that stick with you long after the bodies hit the floor. Lots of stories feature death, but few ask what it means to be and what it means to not be.
I enjoy The Lion King, but it doesn't get brownie points for taking high art, stripping out what makes it great and replacing the subtleties of a prince too conflicted to act with "hakuna matata".
So somebody told me about The Happy House, which is leaving Netflix on the 27th. It's an indie comedy/horror film and it was... okay, I guess? It's very low budget and the acting is serviceable at best but it at least kept me guessing. I don't actually know why I'm posting about it, because once it's off Netflix, who is even going to see it.
Oh yeah I know why I'm posting about it. Because I spent 100 minutes watching it.
My pick for the best animated (non-Pixar) Disney film is pretty much always going to be Sleeping Beauty. Of all their films, it's one of only a few that is really a story, not a movie. It captures the narrative simplicity and emotional depth of a fairy tale and executes it at the highest technical level. There are no wacky talking animals, it's not a Broadway show, the dialogue isn't self-consciously clever, it's not shot like a sitcom. It's a film suffused with grace. It's not dated in the slightest, and I doubt it ever will be; Sleeping Beauty exists out of time, in its own world of painterly backdrops and warring colors.
I don't love Sleeping Beauty quite that much, but I'll give you the looks in a heartbeat. Went to a big gallery once of Disney concept art, and for the most part, it was neat, but didn't quite reach the films. Even the good looking ones were less... raw on film. More standardized.
Sleeping Beauty's concept art looked like a stained glass window. Fine. But in action, the film just looks like a stained glass window that moves.
It actually brings the ideas on paper to the screen without compromise, and that was impressive.
Lion King was less revolutionary than the few that came before it, but I think it's subtlety better by most metrics. Art, music, animation, story, villain... it nails them all.
So while it wasn't my favorite initially, due to the comparative lack of wow factor, it's gradually nudged its way up the scale for me.
I mean, opinions and all. I also think Hunchback was a goddamn revelation that gets sadly overlooked, but LK is more rewatchable.
It's a musical with absolutely amazing songs, coupled with Disney's strongest art / animation showing ever up until that point. It still stands out as one of their best for me.
My favorite Disney animated film is the one that almost lead to the end of Disney animation, until Little Mermaid revitalized them. Black Cauldron, the first PG Disney animated movie, with an oracular pig, an undead skeletal army, and a great Sierra PC game. While not quite as good as the Chronicles of Prydain, I appreciate it more than Disney seems to. It only took about 12 years for them to release it on VHS.
I don't remember much about Black Cauldron when I went to see it when I was young, although I think I may have found it scary. I do remember my parents buying a sort of magazine / book type thing as well and that's probably the only reason I picture the style of the film. I don't remember it being particularly bad though so I don't really understand why I've never seen it on TV here in the UK (if you can put on Watership Down during the day over Easter, I can't see why you can't put on Black Cauldron).
Maybe I just have weird taste; when Disney were going through another blip in releasing animated films that didn't do so well, I actually really enjoyed films like Treasure Planet (the amount of background lore is rather impressive), Atlantis: The Lost Empire (loads of people die in this!), and The Emperor's New Groove (should I find it so funny?).
The Emperor's New Groove is great, it's fairly untypical for Disney and it's got a wonderfully goofy (no pun intended) sense of humour, mostly without resorting to pop culture references. I'd very much defend that as Disney Gold.
"Nothing is gonna save us forever but a lot of things can save us today." - Night in the Woods
The Emperor's New Groove is great, it's fairly untypical for Disney and it's got a wonderfully goofy (no pun intended) sense of humour, mostly without resorting to pop culture references. I'd very much defend that as Disney Gold.
Which is doubly impressive knowing that they scrapped the movie in the middle of production and re wrote it from the ground up.
The Emperor's New Groove is great, it's fairly untypical for Disney and it's got a wonderfully goofy (no pun intended) sense of humour, mostly without resorting to pop culture references. I'd very much defend that as Disney Gold.
Which is doubly impressive knowing that they scrapped the movie in the middle of production and re wrote it from the ground up.
They seem to have pulled that feat off in Zootopia as well.
The Emperor's New Groove is great, it's fairly untypical for Disney and it's got a wonderfully goofy (no pun intended) sense of humour, mostly without resorting to pop culture references. I'd very much defend that as Disney Gold.
Plus, Patrick Warburton.
Also, the scene where they race back to the palace, and question how Yzma and Kronk could have possibly beaten them back. They check the map, agree it makes absolutely no sense, shrug, and move on. Brilliance
Ursula and Maleficent are still my favorite Disney villains. "Gently, my pets. Gently."
The Emperor's New Groove is great, it's fairly untypical for Disney and it's got a wonderfully goofy (no pun intended) sense of humour, mostly without resorting to pop culture references. I'd very much defend that as Disney Gold.
Which is doubly impressive knowing that they scrapped the movie in the middle of production and re wrote it from the ground up.
They seem to have pulled that feat off in Zootopia as well.
I seem to remember that happening for Frozen as well.
The Emperor's New Groove is great, it's fairly untypical for Disney and it's got a wonderfully goofy (no pun intended) sense of humour, mostly without resorting to pop culture references. I'd very much defend that as Disney Gold.
Which is doubly impressive knowing that they scrapped the movie in the middle of production and re wrote it from the ground up.
They seem to have pulled that feat off in Zootopia as well.
I seem to remember that happening for Frozen as well.
Deets? In exchange the original Zootopia story
So you know how Prey/Predator tensions were sparked off by Bellweather's plans in the third act? In the original story this happened at least a generation ago, and on top of general Predator prejudice all Predators are required to wear shock collars that activate whenever they get angry. Much like in the final story the ultimate conspiracy is Sheep led - the erstwhile Mayor was a sheep disguised as a wolf, because pun! - to further heighten fear of predators and run them out of town altogether.
This was fatally flawed in two ways: The tonal whiplash of "tee hee he's getting shocked" contrasted to a soul-crushing scene described as a "Taming Party", when a child first receives his collar; and the same problem Toy Story had on their Black Friday - that the Zootopia we see in the early parts is too much of a collective asshole to feel good about Predators getting vindicated. Okay, you can't shock me, but what about all those jobs you denied me and my parents?
And on the whole, the movie is for the better not starting off as a dystopia, and salvaging it was an impressive feat.
The Emperor's New Groove is great, it's fairly untypical for Disney and it's got a wonderfully goofy (no pun intended) sense of humour, mostly without resorting to pop culture references. I'd very much defend that as Disney Gold.
Which is doubly impressive knowing that they scrapped the movie in the middle of production and re wrote it from the ground up.
They seem to have pulled that feat off in Zootopia as well.
I seem to remember that happening for Frozen as well.
Deets? In exchange the original Zootopia story
So you know how Prey/Predator tensions were sparked off by Bellweather's plans in the third act? In the original story this happened at least a generation ago, and on top of general Predator prejudice all Predators are required to wear shock collars that activate whenever they get angry. Much like in the final story the ultimate conspiracy is Sheep led - the erstwhile Mayor was a sheep disguised as a wolf, because pun! - to further heighten fear of predators and run them out of town altogether.
This was fatally flawed in two ways: The tonal whiplash of "tee hee he's getting shocked" contrasted to a soul-crushing scene described as a "Taming Party", when a child first receives his collar; and the same problem Toy Story had on their Black Friday - that the Zootopia we see in the early parts is too much of a collective asshole to feel good about Predators getting vindicated. Okay, you can't shock me, but what about all those jobs you denied me and my parents?
And on the whole, the movie is for the better not starting off as a dystopia, and salvaging it was an impressive feat.
The Emperor's New Groove is great, it's fairly untypical for Disney and it's got a wonderfully goofy (no pun intended) sense of humour, mostly without resorting to pop culture references. I'd very much defend that as Disney Gold.
Which is doubly impressive knowing that they scrapped the movie in the middle of production and re wrote it from the ground up.
They seem to have pulled that feat off in Zootopia as well.
I seem to remember that happening for Frozen as well.
Deets? In exchange the original Zootopia story
So you know how Prey/Predator tensions were sparked off by Bellweather's plans in the third act? In the original story this happened at least a generation ago, and on top of general Predator prejudice all Predators are required to wear shock collars that activate whenever they get angry. Much like in the final story the ultimate conspiracy is Sheep led - the erstwhile Mayor was a sheep disguised as a wolf, because pun! - to further heighten fear of predators and run them out of town altogether.
This was fatally flawed in two ways: The tonal whiplash of "tee hee he's getting shocked" contrasted to a soul-crushing scene described as a "Taming Party", when a child first receives his collar; and the same problem Toy Story had on their Black Friday - that the Zootopia we see in the early parts is too much of a collective asshole to feel good about Predators getting vindicated. Okay, you can't shock me, but what about all those jobs you denied me and my parents?
And on the whole, the movie is for the better not starting off as a dystopia, and salvaging it was an impressive feat.
Frozen was stuck in development hell for quite some time, and then when they were finally actually making it they had the "Let it Go" revelation and had to rewrite the story to make Hans the bad guy and Elsa not the bad guy.
The Emperor's New Groove is great, it's fairly untypical for Disney and it's got a wonderfully goofy (no pun intended) sense of humour, mostly without resorting to pop culture references. I'd very much defend that as Disney Gold.
Which is doubly impressive knowing that they scrapped the movie in the middle of production and re wrote it from the ground up.
They seem to do that more often any of us thought.
Is Citizen Kane ranked number one? Yes? Go away, your list is intellectually lazy and has nothing to offer me.
It's not that I don't think it's a great movie. It is! And I could even buy a well crafted argument about why is the best of all time! But it only makes the top of every goddamn best movie list because that's just convention at this point.
As well, I would not be surprised if it wasn't number one on anybody's personal list. Nobody thinks it's the best movie ever, but everybody thinks it was pretty good. Citizen Kane is the Best Movie like vanilla is the Best Ice Cream Flavor.
Barry Lyndon is the movie people use for Kubrick just because they want to have a different title of his to say is his best when he's got at least 5 others that are better. It's not a bad movie but God yes is it a chore.
I do love Barry Lyndon. I watched it for the first time just last year, in theatre, during a Kubrick "fest" where I got to see a number of his movies I already loved and some I hadn't seen. And of the films that were new to me, I definitely, vastly, vastly preferred The Killing and Paths of Glory. I remember standing up during Barry Lyndon's intermission and questioning whether I should throw in the towel. I think in the end I described it to a friend as less a movie than a visit to an art gallery, while someone reads to you and a small chamber orchestra plays in the corner. And upon reflection: I like art galleries. I like historical fiction. And I was very recently the sole excited person in a group going to see a bit of Mozart and Straus in Vienna. So...
It's grown on me a lot, and I find myself returning to it often. I could see someone - free of pretence - calling it their favourite. Where one sees a chore, another could revel in it's sprawling, languid story.
I can say I love Barry Lyndon with a straight face. Like every Kubrick film, it gets better the more you see it. I think 2001 is his best film, but BL is his most beautiful. The cinematography, costumes and locations are stunning. Also maybe my favorite use of music in any of his films. It's a master work except for maybe the lead performance. God, Kubrick was great. Don't know how almost his whole body of work doesn't dominate every list.
0
Options
ElJeffeRoaming the streets, waving his mod gun around.Moderator, ClubPAMod Emeritus
Is Citizen Kane ranked number one? Yes? Go away, your list is intellectually lazy and has nothing to offer me.
It's not that I don't think it's a great movie. It is! And I could even buy a well crafted argument about why is the best of all time! But it only makes the top of every goddamn best movie list because that's just convention at this point.
As well, I would not be surprised if it wasn't number one on anybody's personal list. Nobody thinks it's the best movie ever, but everybody thinks it was pretty good. Citizen Kane is the Best Movie like vanilla is the Best Ice Cream Flavor.
Vanilla is the best ice cream flavor though...
I love nothing more than to curl up with a bowl of vanilla ice cream and watch Citizen Kane with my dog Fido and my son John.
I submitted an entry to Lego Ideas, and if 10,000 people support me, it'll be turned into an actual Lego set!If you'd like to see and support my submission, follow this link.
0
Options
LibrarianThe face of liberal fascismRegistered Userregular
I know it's common knowledge and it probably has been mentioned in this thread, but Kubrick also did some groundbreaking cinematographic work on Barry Lyndon, Shooting all the indoor scenes with authentic light, meaning candles most of the time and using special lenses and film for that.
I definitely should rewatch it, I have only seen it once in my early 20s when I was binging on the classics and I totally adored it without being pretentious about it. While I still haven't finished 2001.
Concerning Disney's The Black Cauldron, that movie was actually a bit of a childhood trauma, as so many of my friends watched it in elementary school but my parents wouldn't take me to see it. I finally also watched it in my early twenties when Disney first made it available on VHS and I think it is really just the lazy cashgrab to make some money from the D&D hype of the early 80s. It is poorly drawn and animated and some older Disney films are just much more beautiful. And the story is nothing special at all.
Subject-@Librarian will invent fiction it believes the interrogator desires. Data acquired will be invalid. Warned @Librarian (0 points for 1 week) for "Disallowed phrase: Prohibited phrase "pretentious""
0
Options
LibrarianThe face of liberal fascismRegistered Userregular
So I can not use the p-word in here without getting a warning, no matter the context? Ohhhkay.
LibrarianThe face of liberal fascismRegistered Userregular
Well Geth could try.
0
Options
LibrarianThe face of liberal fascismRegistered Userregular
Has there been any good horror lately that is a bit off the radar? I don't mind gore if it is clever/funny. The Benchmark is still The Loved Ones. I have seen all the big titles in recent years, Babadook, It Follows, The Witch and the other popular stuff.
The original Lloyd Alexander story for the Black Cauldron was considerably darker, and the Disney version is a pretty dark movie (for a Disney movie)! The Taran/Prydain Chronicles were one of the formative fantasy series of my youth... easily accessible for a kid, but it gets pretty grimdark in some places.
The Emperor's New Groove is great, it's fairly untypical for Disney and it's got a wonderfully goofy (no pun intended) sense of humour, mostly without resorting to pop culture references. I'd very much defend that as Disney Gold.
Which is doubly impressive knowing that they scrapped the movie in the middle of production and re wrote it from the ground up.
They seem to do that more often any of us thought.
They are basically the Blizzard of movies. Or Blizzard is the Disney of video games would be a more accurate comparison.
The Emperor's New Groove is great, it's fairly untypical for Disney and it's got a wonderfully goofy (no pun intended) sense of humour, mostly without resorting to pop culture references. I'd very much defend that as Disney Gold.
Which is doubly impressive knowing that they scrapped the movie in the middle of production and re wrote it from the ground up.
They seem to do that more often any of us thought.
yeah, but with the Emperor's New Groove you got "The Sweatbox" documentary which went through just how much of the first movie went in to the trash (pretty much everything) and just how crest fallen the creators were when they learned of it (completely hollow).
The one bright side was watching Sting moan about his epic hippy soundtrack getting trashed.
Has there been any good horror lately that is a bit off the radar? I don't mind gore if it is clever/funny. The Benchmark is still The Loved Ones. I have seen all the big titles in recent years, Babadook, It Follows, The Witch and the other popular stuff.
Housebound if you're into Aussie stuff, Holidays for anthologies, Honeymoon with Rose Leslie, and Baskin if you have a very specific need for Turkish low budget Silent Hill.
Man, I love Housebound. I should watch that again.
About, I dunno, a year ago? My old roommate and I decided we should just watch a bunch of recent(ish) horror movies we'd never heard of. I can't recall everything we watched (we're talking like two dozen movies of varying quality in a week), but four really stood out:
Housebound, which was absolutely fantastic but barely qualified as horror, Resolution, which was creepy and really good but didn't really stick the landing for me, Banshee Chapter, which wasn't a great movie but freaked me right the fuck out to the point I could barely look at the TV,
and the movie my old roommate, sister, and I all place as our undisputed Worst Movie We've Ever Seen, Nothing Left to Fear.
I...you know what, it's bad. It's real bad. I won't rant about it in detail, because that would be a waste of my life beyond the 1h 40m it already stole from me.
+1
Options
jungleroomxIt's never too many graves, it's always not enough shovelsRegistered Userregular
Concerning Disney's The Black Cauldron, that movie was actually a bit of a childhood trauma, as so many of my friends watched it in elementary school but my parents wouldn't take me to see it. I finally also watched it in my early twenties when Disney first made it available on VHS and I think it is really just the lazy cashgrab to make some money from the D&D hype of the early 80s. It is poorly drawn and animated and some older Disney films are just much more beautiful. And the story is nothing special at all.
From The Aristocats to Oliver and Company, Disney movies got really fucking lazy, recycled footage, and used some awful rotoscoping. Basically, Walt died after the Aristocats and the company was p much a sweatshop for animation.
Just got back from seeing The Nice Guys and it was totally entertaining and exactly what it advertised itself to be. It's already been said but I can confirm; if you liked Kiss Kiss Bang Bang you will like this. If you hated Kiss Kiss, well, you'll hate this too.
Crowe and Gosling have great chemistry and the child actor playing Gosling's daughter in the film is quite good and won't bother anyone (if you worry about bad child acting as I do). It's quite funny but not necessarily a lot of lol moments. It also has a lot of heart without being tear-jerky or maudlin.
Just got back from seeing The Nice Guys and it was totally entertaining and exactly what it advertised itself to be. It's already been said but I can confirm; if you liked Kiss Kiss Bang Bang you will like this. If you hated Kiss Kiss, well, you'll hate this too.
Crowe and Gosling have great chemistry and the child actor playing Gosling's daughter in the film is quite good and won't bother anyone (if you worry about bad child acting as I do). It's quite funny but not necessarily a lot of lol moments. It also has a lot of heart without being tear-jerky or maudlin.
I still think it has the most Shane Black Death ever.
Amelia after being saved by Crowe and Gosling then leaves them to get killed by the killer who had just left after being turned away.
I would like some money because these are artisanal nuggets of wisdom philistine.
Posts
Now I know why the Lannisters are Lions in GoT
The Lion King is not a redo of Hamlet.
It's a redo of
Henry the 4th
...or is it?
Oh yeah I know why I'm posting about it. Because I spent 100 minutes watching it.
Rock Band DLC | GW:OttW - arrcd | WLD - Thortar
I don't love Sleeping Beauty quite that much, but I'll give you the looks in a heartbeat. Went to a big gallery once of Disney concept art, and for the most part, it was neat, but didn't quite reach the films. Even the good looking ones were less... raw on film. More standardized.
Sleeping Beauty's concept art looked like a stained glass window. Fine. But in action, the film just looks like a stained glass window that moves.
It actually brings the ideas on paper to the screen without compromise, and that was impressive.
Why I fear the ocean.
It's a musical with absolutely amazing songs, coupled with Disney's strongest art / animation showing ever up until that point. It still stands out as one of their best for me.
Steam: adamjnet
I don't remember much about Black Cauldron when I went to see it when I was young, although I think I may have found it scary. I do remember my parents buying a sort of magazine / book type thing as well and that's probably the only reason I picture the style of the film. I don't remember it being particularly bad though so I don't really understand why I've never seen it on TV here in the UK (if you can put on Watership Down during the day over Easter, I can't see why you can't put on Black Cauldron).
Maybe I just have weird taste; when Disney were going through another blip in releasing animated films that didn't do so well, I actually really enjoyed films like Treasure Planet (the amount of background lore is rather impressive), Atlantis: The Lost Empire (loads of people die in this!), and The Emperor's New Groove (should I find it so funny?).
"Nothing is gonna save us forever but a lot of things can save us today." - Night in the Woods
Which is doubly impressive knowing that they scrapped the movie in the middle of production and re wrote it from the ground up.
They seem to have pulled that feat off in Zootopia as well.
Plus, Patrick Warburton.
Also, the scene where they race back to the palace, and question how Yzma and Kronk could have possibly beaten them back. They check the map, agree it makes absolutely no sense, shrug, and move on. Brilliance
Ursula and Maleficent are still my favorite Disney villains. "Gently, my pets. Gently."
Steam: Elvenshae // PSN: Elvenshae // WotC: Elvenshae
Wilds of Aladrion: [https://forums.penny-arcade.com/discussion/comment/43159014/#Comment_43159014]Ellandryn[/url]
I seem to remember that happening for Frozen as well.
Deets? In exchange the original Zootopia story
This was fatally flawed in two ways: The tonal whiplash of "tee hee he's getting shocked" contrasted to a soul-crushing scene described as a "Taming Party", when a child first receives his collar; and the same problem Toy Story had on their Black Friday - that the Zootopia we see in the early parts is too much of a collective asshole to feel good about Predators getting vindicated. Okay, you can't shock me, but what about all those jobs you denied me and my parents?
And on the whole, the movie is for the better not starting off as a dystopia, and salvaging it was an impressive feat.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/movies/2014/03/01/frozen-let-it-go/5922623/
I'm not sure how far in the process they made it, but Elsa was going to be a villain until they wrote "Let it Go".
That would have been following the classic Snow Queen story. Funny what can really make you think it through and approach it from another angle.
I know there are like 95% rendered deleted scenes from Zootopia that incorporate the original story, so they got pretty far before reworking it.
They seem to do that more often any of us thought.
I do love Barry Lyndon. I watched it for the first time just last year, in theatre, during a Kubrick "fest" where I got to see a number of his movies I already loved and some I hadn't seen. And of the films that were new to me, I definitely, vastly, vastly preferred The Killing and Paths of Glory. I remember standing up during Barry Lyndon's intermission and questioning whether I should throw in the towel. I think in the end I described it to a friend as less a movie than a visit to an art gallery, while someone reads to you and a small chamber orchestra plays in the corner. And upon reflection: I like art galleries. I like historical fiction. And I was very recently the sole excited person in a group going to see a bit of Mozart and Straus in Vienna. So...
It's grown on me a lot, and I find myself returning to it often. I could see someone - free of pretence - calling it their favourite. Where one sees a chore, another could revel in it's sprawling, languid story.
I love nothing more than to curl up with a bowl of vanilla ice cream and watch Citizen Kane with my dog Fido and my son John.
I definitely should rewatch it, I have only seen it once in my early 20s when I was binging on the classics and I totally adored it without being pretentious about it. While I still haven't finished 2001.
Concerning Disney's The Black Cauldron, that movie was actually a bit of a childhood trauma, as so many of my friends watched it in elementary school but my parents wouldn't take me to see it. I finally also watched it in my early twenties when Disney first made it available on VHS and I think it is really just the lazy cashgrab to make some money from the D&D hype of the early 80s. It is poorly drawn and animated and some older Disney films are just much more beautiful. And the story is nothing special at all.
Warned @Librarian (0 points for 1 week) for "Disallowed phrase: Prohibited phrase "pretentious""
How is geth supposed to determine context?
>.>
They are basically the Blizzard of movies. Or Blizzard is the Disney of video games would be a more accurate comparison.
yeah, but with the Emperor's New Groove you got "The Sweatbox" documentary which went through just how much of the first movie went in to the trash (pretty much everything) and just how crest fallen the creators were when they learned of it (completely hollow).
The one bright side was watching Sting moan about his epic hippy soundtrack getting trashed.
Housebound if you're into Aussie stuff, Holidays for anthologies, Honeymoon with Rose Leslie, and Baskin if you have a very specific need for Turkish low budget Silent Hill.
About, I dunno, a year ago? My old roommate and I decided we should just watch a bunch of recent(ish) horror movies we'd never heard of. I can't recall everything we watched (we're talking like two dozen movies of varying quality in a week), but four really stood out:
Housebound, which was absolutely fantastic but barely qualified as horror,
Resolution, which was creepy and really good but didn't really stick the landing for me,
Banshee Chapter, which wasn't a great movie but freaked me right the fuck out to the point I could barely look at the TV,
and the movie my old roommate, sister, and I all place as our undisputed Worst Movie We've Ever Seen, Nothing Left to Fear.
I...you know what, it's bad. It's real bad. I won't rant about it in detail, because that would be a waste of my life beyond the 1h 40m it already stole from me.
From The Aristocats to Oliver and Company, Disney movies got really fucking lazy, recycled footage, and used some awful rotoscoping. Basically, Walt died after the Aristocats and the company was p much a sweatshop for animation.
Crowe and Gosling have great chemistry and the child actor playing Gosling's daughter in the film is quite good and won't bother anyone (if you worry about bad child acting as I do). It's quite funny but not necessarily a lot of lol moments. It also has a lot of heart without being tear-jerky or maudlin.
I still think it has the most Shane Black Death ever.
pleasepaypreacher.net
Explains why 2pac only had to do 80 on the freeway to elude the police.
Alternative:
Nebraska