Movie Review: Fences

Review Written By Michael J. Ruhland




















Michael's Movie Grade: A+

Review: Why, no seriously why can't we see more films like this in theaters (art-house theaters not included)? Movies that aren't afraid to take their time. That aren't afraid to make us think or have complex characters, that are not just cardboard cut outs. In other words this is an incredibly good movie.

On of the best things about this movie is the main character. He is both very well written and acted (shocker a character played by Denzel Washington  is well acted). This is a very complex and fascinating character. At times we don't know whether to admire him, or hate him. Because of this he is extremely fascinating and hard not to get caught up in him. Because the character is so fascinating, the story around him is much more interesting. The main character isn't the only great character his wife is also a fantastic character, as well as his kids. The scenes revolving around his mentally ill brother are extremely touching and profound. He is almost equally fascinating and real. In fact all the characters are so real that at times I had to remind myself this wasn't based off a true story because it felt so real. Screenwriter August Wilson (who also wrote the play this was based off of), and director (and star) Denzel Washington are obviously so passionate about the film and characters that it is hard for us not to be passionate about it as well.     

Despite this being such a dialogue heavy movie, it remains visually interesting. Charlotte Bruus Christensen's cinematography and David Gropman's design work are both absolutely fantastic. The whole film looks like the time period it takes place in, and because of this the film also stands out among most of the films coming out today.

The pacing in this movie is also amazing. The pace is much slower than your average modern movie, and this works perfectly for the story. Unlike too many other modern movies it takes enough time for us to become fully invested in the story and characters.

This is one of the best movies of this year and a must watch for all fans of great movies and all of those who want alternatives to most movies being put out today. It is beautiful, profound and extremely well done.

-Michael J. Ruhland   

Movie Review: Sing

 

Review Written by Michael J. Ruhland


















Michael's Movie Grade: B+

Review: An excellent film. With this and The Secret Life of Pets, things are really looking up for Illumination.

One of the best things about this movie is the design work of Eric Guillon. Guillon also did the amazing design work for The Secret Life of Pets and he successeds just as well here. The whole film is just a joy to look at. While the animation may not be up to the standards of Disney or DreamWorks, this great look is so appealing, you may not care.

Important for a movie about a singing completion, the voice artists all have great voices. Many of you probably already know that Seth McFarland has a really good voice (though it probably surprised you at first as well), and as a fan of the old crooner type of music his singing Pennies From Heaven and My Way is a definite highlight to me. However just as great is Torri Kelly's beautiful vocal performance of Leonard Cohen's Halleluiah. In fact all of the voices are great. The song selection is very varied and though there are quite a few instances of songs I don't like, there were just as many that I did like.

The story is good but predictable. You could see just what was coming too often. Also there were too many side stories for the film's running time. Because of this we are not always given the time to appreciate or get sucked into them. However we do care enough about these characters for moment of these stories to work. The main story however is given enough time to be quite fleshed out, and while it is predictable it works surprisingly well.

I am looking forward to what the Illumination will bring us in the future.

-Michael J. Ruhland

Movie Review: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

 

Review Written By Michael J. Ruhland


















Michael's Movie Grade:F

Review: Pure and utter boredom, easily the worst Star Wars movie and yes I am including the prequels in that.

The biggest problem with this film is the characters. All of them are completely devoid of any personality. This is especially true of our two main protagonists. After watching the movie, I still can't tell you what their personalities are, because they don't have any. The side characters though are not much better.

As I've stated in previous reviews, if I don't like the characters, the action scenes are extremely boring. This is even worse in this film, because the action scenes are the slowest, and longest seeming scenes in the movie. In fact the pacing in this film is awful. I like Star Wars movies for the atmosphere more than anything else. However with the exception of the action scenes, the film jumps around from place to place and character to character much too quickly. This allows us no time to soak in what is the best part of these movies, despite making us sit through some of the most boring action scenes imaginable.

The only things good I can say about this movie is that I liked a very brief scene involving Darth Vader, and the score wasn't bad. That is it though. Everything else in this movie is awful and a pain to sit through. I sat through it all because I heard the movie gets better as it goes along. Well it didn't at all.

Since this takes place before episode 4, we know all that is going to happen. Combined with the boredom of the characters and action scenes. This gives me nothing to even care about.

To say this movie is a disappointment, is being kind to this horrible movie.

-Michael J. Ruhland

Movie Review: La La Land

 

Review Written by Michael J. Ruhland



















Michael's Movie Grade:A+

Review: Pure movie magic. Probably my favorite film of this year.

This is an incredibly passionate love letter to 1940's and 50's Hollywood movies (particularly the musicals), and to just the beauty of music and art. What makes this film so great is that you can tell writer/director Damiem Chazelle is truly passionate about what he is paying tribute to. The last musical number, a scene in a museum and quite a bit more of the movie captures nearly perfectly the art of an old movie musical. While there may be clichés in the story, these never feel like they are here because they are expected, but because Chazelle truly loves this type of film and wants to make a film close to the spirit of the classics, and due to his passion he actually captures it. Also very important to this movie being so good is that Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling are perfect in these roles. The perform the serious and the fun scenes with an equally commitment and excellence. Their performances of the musical numbers are especially excellent. As this film is a tribute to classic movie musicals, it looks fantastic. Color here is used much better than it is in most current movies. We are so used to color in movies that we take it for granted. However this movie doesn't it truly uses color to it's full advantage.

One of the best musical films in years a must watch for all movie lovers.

By the way the ending, while I won't give it away really made me cry.

-Michael J. Ruhland

Michael's Christmas Movie Guide: Toy Tinkers (1949)

 

Most Disney histories while having a very detailed history of the short cartoons made before the Disney features, skip over many of the animated short films made after the studio's first feature, and this is unfortunate because so many of these cartoons are great films in their own right. One of my favorite of these cartoons is the Donald Duck film Toy Tinkers.

This cartoon was directed by Jack Hannah. At this time there were three main directors for Disney short cartoons. These directors were Jack Kinney, Charles Nicholas, and Jack Hannah. While they directed for other characters as well, each had a character they can be more associated with then others. Jack Kinney worked heavily with Goofy, Charles Nicholas worked most with Pluto and Jack Hannah was associated with Donald Duck. Jack Kinney and Jack Hannah were very important directors who signaled a huge change in the style of Disney shorts. As Warner Brothers and MGM were now making the most popular cartoon shorts (just as Disney made the most popular of the 1930's) Kinney and Hannah were able to add this new fast paced chaotic cartoon style of humor, while still having the cartoons remain pure Disney, something very evident in this film.

Two more characters Jack Hannah grew to be associated with are Chip and Dale. Though these two had first appeared in a 1943 Clyde Geronimi directed cartoon called Private Pluto, most of their films were directed by Hannah. This began with the duo's second cartoon short released 3 years later called Squatter's Rights. Though this cartoon paired the two with Mickey and Pluto, the next year Hannah would team them with Donald in Chip an' Dale. The three characters worked perfectly together, and Hannah would make more films where he pit Donald against Chip and Dale, Toy Tinkers being one of them.

The cartoon begins as Donald unknowingly chops down Chip and Dale's home for his Christmas tree. As they follow Donald in they see Donald enjoying some nuts. Chip and Dale sneak into Donald's house to get some nuts for themselves. This leads to a slapstick battle between the three using toys under the Christmas tree.

This cartoon is laugh out loud funny. The slapstick is spot on and timed perfectly. Every joke works and they are all very funny. The humor is also displayed perfectly through the great character animation one should expect form a Disney cartoon. While Disney cartoons are often called sweet and cute in contrast to the hilarious antics at studios like Warner Brothers and MGM, the Disney studio could make slapstick cartoons as great as the rest of them (this is not an insult to Warner Brothers and MGM as I love there cartoons a lot as well). This stands as one of Disney's funniest shorts (a joke involving a telephone never fails to make me laugh out loud).

The animators on this film were Bob Carlson, Volus Jones and Bill Justice. All three of them worked on many Jack Hannah shorts. Bill Justice and Bob Carson also animated on various Disney animated features as well, such as Peter Pan, Bambi, Alice in Wonderland, Lady and the Tramp, Fantasia and Pinocchio. However Volus Jones only worked on shorts.

-Michael J. Ruhland

Resources Used 
Of Mice and Magic: A History of American Animated Cartoons by Leonard Maltin
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0041978/?ref_=ttfc_fc_tt

Michael's Christmas Movie Guide: Yogi's All Star Comedy Christmas Caper (1982)

 

I have stated before how much I love Hanna-Barbera cartoons and because of this just seeing all the characters together just gives me a warm fuzzy feeling inside. This is completely true of Yogi's All Star Comedy Christmas Caper (long title isn't it). This made for TV short film includes more characters in it that most of the Hanna-Barbera feature films that combined characters, and it does it in a charming way. Of course this film revolving around my favorite time of year doesn't hurt at all.

The story of this film begins when Huckleberry Hound, Quick Draw McGraw, Snagglepuss, Hokey Wolf, Snooper, Blabber, Augie Doggie and Augie Daddy decide to visit Jellystone to spend Christmas with their good friends Yogi Bear and Boo Boo. However once they arrive they discover Yogi and Boo Boo have gone to the big city to see them. While in the big city Yogi and Boo Boo meet a little girl who is running away from home. Her rich father loves her but has always been to busy to spend time with her. Yogi and Boo Boo befriend the little girl, but also want to bring her back home. After finding out her name is Judy Jones, they think they simply have to find where the Joneses live in town. They happen to quickly find out that there are many many Joneses in town. Their friends find the trio and help Yogi and Boo Boo find out which Joneses she belongs to.

The story may sound cliché and it is. However this cartoon works very well because the characters are so likable they make it work. Also the humor is often quite good and there aren't any jokes that fall flat (a laugh out loud moment involving a cameo by Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubble that is fantastic). The sentiment is never too sugary as it easy could be, and this is again because the characters and the humor are so good. 

This film was directed by Steve Lumley, who also directed two other Hanna-Barbera made for TV films (both features), The Secret World of Og and The Bunjee Venture. He had been working at Hanna-Barbera as a layout supervisor since 1972. The writer was Mark Evanier, who may be better known for being one of the main writers for Garfield and Friends. The animators on this film were Sue Beak, Chris Dawson, Chris Codington, Dick Dunn, Peter Gardiner, Greg Ingram, John Martin, Henry Nevilleand Mike Stapleton. These were mostly a new wave of animators for the studio, none of them had worked with the studio since the beginning. The furthest back any of them worked for Hanna-Barbera was 1970 (Chris Cuddinton and Peter Gardiner (both started on the made for TV movie A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court).

-Michael J. Ruhland        

Michael's Christmas Movie Guide: Santa's Workshop (1932)

 

My passion for Disney is by no means just for the feature films. I love the short films just as much. This is especially true of the short cartoons from the 1930's. And since this is Walt's 115th birthday what better time to write about one of these great shorts. Since it is also the Christmas season, why not write about a Santa's Workshop, one of my favorite Silly Symphonies.

This film was the fourth color Silly Symphony. The first was Flowers and Trees released earlier the same year. That cartoon became such a huge hit that afterwards all Silly Symphonies would be in color.

This film was directed by Wilfred Jackson one of the best Disney directors at this time. He had directed such previous Disney shorts as The Fox Hunt, The Ugly Duckling, The Whoopee Party, The Spider and the Fly and Mickey's Follies.

This cartoon went through the assembly line very quickly. The story was completed in September 1932, and by October animation had already begun. The film was released on December 10th of the same year. Despite this the cartoon maintained a high quality. The animation was fantastic, the story was sweet and simple, and the humor was really good. On top of this the film just has a great sense of energy that is a joy to watch.

The story is very simple. Here Santa and his elves get ready for the Christmas Eve flight.

The animators on this cartoon include Les Clark, Art Babbitt, Norm Ferguson, Tom Palmer, Ben Sharpsteen, Jack King, Fred Moore, Eddie Donnelly, Jack Kinney, Ed Love, Clyde Germoni, Nick George, Jack Cutting, Joe D'Igalo, Marvin Woodward, Dick Williams, Harry Reeves, Louie Schmidt, Paul Fennel, George Drake, and Chuck Couch. The animators were not yet assigned specifically to characters as would be common in later Disney animation. For instance Santa is animated by Norm Ferguson when he is reading his list, by Jack King when checking the dolls, by Clyde Germoni when marching out the door, by Eddie Donnell when saying goodbye and by Louie Schmidt when flying off into the night. The only character to be handled by one animator was the bookkeeping elf, who was animated by Tom Palmer. Art Babbitt's scenes of the elves taking care of the reindeer are great examples of the animator at his best. In fact Art Babbitt and Norm Ferguson are probably the two animators whose work in this film would be most recognizable to Disney buffs familiar with their animators as both are completely in their element here and their work looks like them. Despite this every animator does a fantastic job in this cartoon and the whole film is lovely to look at.

Overall this is a fantastic cartoon, showing the Disney studio was at the top of their game before they ever made a feature. By the way listen to hear an elf voiced by Walt himself.

-Michael J. Ruhland

Resources Used
Of Mice and Magic: A History of American Animated Cartoons by Leonard Maltin
http://cartoonresearch.com/index.php/disneys-santa-workshop-1932/
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0023422/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1

Silent Film of the Month: A Little Girl Who Did Not Believe in Santa Claus (1907)

 

Runtime: 14 minutes. Studio: Edison Manufacturing Company. Directors: J. Searle Dawley, Edwin S. Porter. Cast: Gitchner Hartman, Mr. Lehapmen, Bessie Schrednecky, William Sorelle, Miss Sullivan.

I love Christmas. It is in my mind it is easily the best time of the year. Naturally as a film lover, this also means I love Christmas movies. This of course includes well established classics such as It's a Wonderful Life, Miracle on 34th Street, A Chirstmas Story and so forth, but this also includes some of the more forgotten films, such as the one I am discussing here.

The directors of this film were J. Searle Dawley and Edwin S. Porter. J. Seale Dawley often called himself the first motion picture director. The reason he called himself this is because he felt that before he started directing (in 1907) that the cameraman was the one in charge of the movie. Over his career he directed such early cinema classics as the 1910 film version of Frankenstein, the 1916 version of Snow White (which helped inspire Walt Disney to make the 1937 animated classic), and the 1918 film version of Uncle Tom's Cabin. Interestingly he was first hired by his co-director here Edwin S. Porter. Edwin S. Porter was one of the greatest pre-Griffith directors. He started directing in 1898 with a short film called The Caviler's Dream. He also directed such classics as The Great Train Robbery, the 1902 film version of Jack and the Beanstalk, Dream of a Rarebit Fiend and The Whole Dam Family and the Dam Dog.

As the title indicates the story involves a little girl who does not believe in Santa Claus. The little girl here does not believe in Santa, because her family is so poor. One day she meets a boy who is disheartened to hear about her lack of belief and even more that she has never got anything from Santa. The little boy decides he is going to help her get presents this year. I am not going to give away how he goes about this, but it is honestly quite shocking and unexpected.

This is an excellent film. The story and characters are very likable and charming and the filmmaking is quite sophisticated (especially considering the time it was made). This film was well ahead of it's time both story and visual wise. Fantasies were not the common type of film at this time period, despite the success of such films as A Trip to The Moon. Most films were documentaries when this short was made. Storytelling was not the main goal of cinema at this time. That is why it is so amazing how well this story is told. On top of that the special effects, such as the little girl's dream and seeing Santa travel, are very convincing in a way that would even be rare later in the silent era. In fact these special effects still hold up today, 109 years later. However all of this would be wasted if the story wasn't good, and luckily the story is very charming. This is a must see for all those interested in early cinema.

-Michael J. Ruhland

Resources Used
Film Before Griffith by John L. Fell
imdb.com

Michael's Christmas Movie Guide: A Pink Christmas (1978)

 

While it is easy to say that the DePatie-Freling cartoons of the mid and late 1970's were not on par with the studio's cartoons of the 1960's and early 70's without any sense of doubt, A Pink Christmas is a huge exception. This made for TV short film is about as good a cartoon as the studio ever made.

This dialog-less story somewhat based on O. Henry's The Cop and the Anthem begins with the Pink Panther, poor and hungry, simply looking for some food at Christmas time. His attempts to find food lead him on one humorous adventure after another. (Spoilers ahead, scroll down to the next paragraph now if you don't want to read them) When our old Pink buddy finally gets a hold of a doughnut, after pursuing food rather selfishly for the entire film so far, he finds a poor hungry dog. The Panther shares this doughnut with the dog and the two become close friends. When the Pink Panther rest on a park bench for the night, he finds himself surrounded by food. Looking up he sees Santa's sled passing by.

The Pink Panther has often been compared to Charlie Chaplin, mostly because he is a pantomime character. This though is probably the most Chaplin-esque film the cartoon cat ever stared in. It beautifully combines comedy and pathos, and the idea of a poor tramp like character looking for food of course has roots in Chaplin as well. In fact this film borrows a gag from Chaplin's The Gold Rush (involving shoveling snow). It successeds very well. It is both very funny and very moving.

This is one of the only two films directed by Bill Perez (the other was another TV short called The Grinch Grinches the Cat in the Hat). My fellow Hanna-Barbera buffs might like to know that Bill Perez also worked as a layout artist and a storyboard artist on various Hanna-Barbera projects including TV shows like The Jetsons, The Secret Squirrel Show, Johnny Quest, The Hurculoids, and The Amazing Chan and the Chan Clan and feature films like Charlotte's Web, A Flintstones Christmas, Yogi Bear and the Magical Flight of the Spruce Goose, The Good, the Bad and the Huckleberry Hound and Rockin' With Judy Jetson. The writing was written by animation legend (and studio co-founder) Friz Freling and John Dunn (one of the studio's main writers and a writer who had worked with Friz dating back to his days with Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies).

-Michael J. Ruhland

Movie Review: Moana

 

Review Written by Michael J. Ruhland












Michael's Movie Grade: A+

Review: Directing team John Musker and Ron Clements helped redefine Disney feature animation with such films as The Little Mermaid and Aladdin. However they may have dine it again here, this film is an incredible mixture of what made previous Disney animated features so good and great new ideas as well . In fact this may stand as their best film and it is one of my favorite post-Walt animated Disney films.

The look of this film is incredible. The designs are very appealing, and the characters are very well animated. On top of this the film has a brilliant combination of CGI and hand drawn animation done through Maui's tattoos (the head of hand drawn animation was Eric Goldberg, who had previously been the supervising animator for the Genie in Aladdin).

The story is also excellent and told through brilliant filmmaking. The story is told using so many great devices. Making the first few villains comic for instance works fantastically. This makes the climax all the more exciting and makes the threat feel much stronger. In fact the whole mixture of comedy and drama is near perfect. The humor is not only quite funny but it always is there in service to the story and characters. The comedy uses a lot of self referential humor, this is not only quite funny but makes the fantasy all the more acceptable by also talking to the cynic in us that recognizes the clichés of this type of story, while not insulting them to the point of where we don't take them seriously enough. All this of course would be wasted if the characters weren't so likable and luckily they are.

The songs in this film are fantastic. They are in a more modern style quite different from what has been used in many previous animated Disney features. However they work perfectly and like many classic Disney films they are completely at the service of the story and characters. They work brilliantly. This is probably the best use of modern style music in a Disney film.

I think this movie does for me, what Frozen did for so many other animation fans (Don't get me wrong I loved Frozen but I am blown away by this film).
 
If you can't guess I liked this movie.

But don't go away we have a short to Review too.

Inner Workings

Michael's Movie Grade: C

Review: Entertaining little cartoon. 

This film a good message and great animation.

However this cartoon seems almost too short and the jokes miss as often as they hit.

Overall an enjoyable little cartoon, but not much more.

-Michael J. Ruhland

Michael's Christmas Movie Guide: The Shanty Where Santy Claus Lives (1933)

 

The Shanty Where Santy Claus Lives is one of the most perfect examples of a Rudolph Ising era Merrie Melodie. During this era (1931-1933) Hugh Harmon was directing all the Looney Tunes cartoons and Rudolph Ising was directing all the Merrie Melodies. Also at this time there was a distinct difference between the two series (though later they would essentially be the same with different names). The Looney Tunes featured the staring character of Bosko and did not have to revolve around a song number. The Merrie Melodies did not feature Bosko, but instead mostly focused on one shot characters (despite a few attempts to give the Merrie Melodies main characters (Foxy, Piggy, Goopy Geer)). They also always revolved around a song number. These songs were owned by Warner Brothers and often served as advertisements for that music.

The film begins with a little orphan boy is sad and alone on Christmas Eve. He hears an operatic voice (the last voice you would except to hear from Santa (Sadly I don't know who provided this voice)) outside his lonely shack. The door opens and there is Santa Claus. Santa takes the boy to the shanty where he lives. The toys perform the title song (written by Harry Woods). Unfortunately during this song number the Christmas tree catches on fire. The little Orphan boy puts it out and saves Christmas.

This film is everything that is great about Merrie Melodies from this era. It is full of a great sense of energy, the story is sweet and simple, it has good animation and it centers around a very catchy song. The fact that it centers around my favorite time of year doesn't hurt it at all either. This is a cartoon full of real, warmth charm and of course energy. This is one of my favorite Merrie Melodies from this era.

The animators on this cartoon were Rollin Hamilton and Norm Blackburn. Both had gotten there start working for Walt Disney on the Alice Comedies and Oswald the Lucky Rabbit cartoons, as did Hugh Harmon and Rudolph Ising. 1933, the year of this cartoon was the last year Norm Blackburn would animate for Warner Brothers (he started for Warner Bothers in 1930). Rollin Hamilton (who also started for the studio in 1930) would continue animating for Warner Brothers until 1940.

-Michael J. Ruhland

Resources Used
Of Mice and Magic: A History of American Animated Cartoons by Leonard Maltin
https://www.bcdb.com/cartoon-characters/87-Shanty-Where-Santy-Claus-Lives
imdb.com

Michael's Christmas Movie Guide: Mickey's Good Deed (1932)

 

It is Mickey Mouse's 88th birthday today and as a tribute, we are going to look at one of my all time favorite Mickey cartoons, Mickey's Good Deed.

This film was from 1932, at this time, Mickey was at the absolute height of his popularity. He was famous in a way that no cartoon character before had ever been. Critics often compared his popularity to that of Charlie Chaplin's little tramp, and like that character Mickey had fans of all types. He was equally popular with intellectuals and small children. In fact this same year Walt Disney would receive a special Academy Award for creating Mickey. Renowned director Sergei Eisenstein (best known for his silent film The Battleship Potemkin) was a huge fan and even wrote essays on Walt Disney, that discussed the brilliance of Mickey Mouse cartoons (He would remain a huge Disney fan and even later call Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs the single greatest film ever made). Almost every other American cartoon studio was copying what Disney had done with Mickey Mouse. Characters like Foxy (at Warner Brothers) and Cubby Bear (at Van Beuren) were extremely thinly disguised copies of Mickey himself. In fact in 1931, the Van Beuren studio was sued by Walt for using two mice characters that looked exactly like Mickey and Minnie. There was no doubt, Mickey was movie royalty.

Mickey did for animated comedies, exactly what Charlie Chaplin's little tramp had done for live action comedies. Like the comedy films made before Chaplin, the animated comedies before Mickey were often very funny, but you very rarely felt any other emotional response to what was happening on screen. Mickey changed all that and nowhere was it clearer than in Mickey's Good Deed. In this film Mickey and Pluto are poor but happy as they perform Christmas carols on the street. A young rich boy in a mansion nearby is not satisfied with any of the many toys his father gives him. The boy sees Pluto outside his window and decides he wants that dog. The butler offers Mickey a lot of money for Pluto, but the mouse refuses to sell. Later Mickey comes across a poor family. The father is in jail and the mother can't afford any Christmas presents for her children. Mickey feeling sorry for the kids sells Pluto to the rich kid in order to buy presents for the kids. You may notice that this doesn't sound like your typical cartoon short of the era, and my point is it isn't. This film while not sacrificing the slapstick comedy, also adds a lot of drama to the story itself. However the Disney studio understood exactly what Chaplin had found out earlier. If the comedy and the drama are both driven by the story and characters, they can both easily co-exist. This idea is done to absolute perfection in this cartoon. This is a beautiful and moving film, while it never forsakes the comedy.

On top of that the film is also helped by a great look.  The visuals are as beautiful as you would expect from 1930's Disney animation. The backgrounds are gorgeous, and the character animation is fantastic. It is sad that there are so many colorized copies around because, the black and white lighting is very beautiful as well.

This cartoon was directed by Burt Gillett, who Disney fans probably know best for directing the classic Silly Symphonies cartoon The Three Little Pigs (released the very next year). The animators on this film included many Disney legends. The animators were Les Clark, Clyde Geronimi, Dick Lundy, Ben Sharpsteen, Norm Ferguson, Johnny Cannon, Hardie Gramatky, and Frenchy DeTremaudan. Les Clark would later become one of Walt's nine old men. Norm Ferguson was the animator who really defined the character of Pluto (most notably in 1934's Playful Pluto) and would also be the supervising animator for the evil queen (in hag form) in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Ben Sharpsteen would later direct Pinocchio and Dumbo, as well as produce most of the studio's live action nature documentaries of the 1950's. Clyde Geronimi would later be one of the co-directors for such feature films as Cinderella, Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan, Lady and the Tramp, Sleeping Beauty and 101 Dalmatians. And as many of you may know Walt himself voiced Mickey here. All in all a great crew to work on a great cartoon.

Happy birthday Mickey.

-Michael J. Ruhland

Resources Used
Of Mice and Magic: A History of American Animated Cartoons by Leonard Maltin
The Disney Villain by Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnson
Disney by Sergei Eisenstein   
http://www.jbkaufman.com/movie-of-the-month/opening-night-1932
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0023215/fullcredits?ref_=tt_cl_sm#cast

Michael's Christmas Movie Guide: Bedtime For Sniffles (1940)

 

Quite charming Christmas cartoon, one of Sniffles' best.

Despite the fact that Chuck Jones is best known now for fast paced slapstick comedy (such as his coyote and roadrunner cartoons), he started his directorial career out doing some of the cutest and slow-paced Looney Tunes and Merrie Melody cartoons. He started directing in 1938 with a film called The Night Watchman (earlier he had worked as an animator for both Tex Avery's and Bob Clampett's units). At this time the Warner Brothers cartoon studio was fully know for fast paced crazy comedy. Because of this Chuck's films really didn't quite fit what the rest studio was doing.

The purest examples of the early Jones style were his Sniffles cartoons. These were extremely cute and also much slower than what Tex Avery, Bob Clampett, and Frank Tashlin were doing at the time. Sniffles cartoons were rarely the best films coming out of the studio (or even the best Chuck was making in this early period), but they had their charms. One of there greatest charms was Robert McKimson's (he was an expert at more realistic and precise animation, and his was also one of the studios' best animators or animators at any studio) animation, which fit perfectly into this type of cartoon.

The story of this film is very simple. Sniffles tries hard to stay up to see Santa Claus on Christmas Eve night, and doesn't find the task very easy. This story is what makes this one of the best Sniffles cartoons. It is simple, but very relatable and speaks to the child in each of us. This simple story gets rid of one of the series major faults, the story amounting to almost nothing. Here even though it has the same slow pace, and minor story, the film offers a slice of life type of storytelling that could have made the rest of these cartoons much more charming.

The animators on this film include Robert McKimson, Ken Harris, Rudy Larriva, Robert Cannon, and Phil Monroe. The story was written by Rich Hogan and Tedd Peirce. They were the two most common writers for Chuck in this early period. The voice of Sniffles was provided by Marget Hill-Talbot, who Walter Lantz fans may recognize as one of the voices of Andy Panda.

-Michael J. Ruhland

Resourses Used
Of Mice and Magic: A History of American Animated Cartoons by Leonard Maltin
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0032244/?ref_=ttfc_fc_tt

Movie Review: I Am Not Ashamed

 

Review Written by Michael J. Ruhland











Michael's Movie Grade: B

Review: Good character study.


When this movie really works is when it is simply a character study of Rachel. This character is very relatable and likable. Her struggles are very much like are own struggles, and even non-religious people could relate to her yearning to be excepted. This film does a great job at letting us feel what the character is feeling.

On the downside this film features some clumsy acting and a group of bullies are very poorly written. I also have to say saying someone knows Shakespeare real well because they can quote the whole "All the World's a Stage" silique from As You Like It is quite clumsy writing. That shouldn't be a big fault but it is repeated too much this small fault gets very annoying.

While some may criticize this film without seeing it, because they are offended that a movie would use this tragedy for Christian propaganda. It is done in very good taste. Neither the Christian message nor the tragedy are forced into this movie and both are treated with the upmost respect. In fact the ending is extremely moving and will allow some who understandably have trouble with this films faults to forgive them.

Movie Review: Trolls

 

Review written by Michael J. Ruhland


















Michael's Movie Grade: B

Review: Very fun movie.

What really makes this movie work so well is the characters and the visuals. The characters, could have easily been boring and two dimensional. Poppy isn't just an obnoxiously happy character, and Branch is not just an overly depressed character. I am not going to say they are complex characters, but they are well thought out and very likable. The visuals are great,  including both design, and animation. The characters have a likable look to them and the world around them looks really cool. The characters are also very well animated and come to life through it. This film is just a joy to look at.

On the downside, most of the songs feel like they are here because they are popular, not because they fit the story. In fact most of them feel quite out of place here. Also the story is often very predictable.

Overall, just a very fun movie.

-Michael J. Ruhland

Movie Review: El Jeremias

 

Review Written by Michael J. Ruhland



















Michael's Movie Grade:A-

Review: Fantastic movie that is both funny and moving.

As I have mentioned before, one of the many things I love about movies is when, I discover something great that I completely did not except. I just went to this film because I felt like seeing something different from what I have seen in theaters lately, and a Spanish-langue Mexican movie, nobody I know has mentioned felt like just the ticket. I got in just a few minutes before the previews started, and discovered I was the only one in the theater. I began to wonder if I had chosen the right movie to see. That fear was soon quieted. In the first few minutes I found myself laughing and enjoy these characters.

Nearly everything about this movie was great. Martian Castro (his film debut) is a very talented child actor, the whole cast is great in fact, the humor is very funny, the drama is quite touching and the film has a great and very important message, about family, childhood and life in general. There were few predictable moments, when I knew what was going to happen, but with how good the rest of the movie was this was just a nitpick.

This movie was the feature film directorial debut of Anwar Safa. I recommend seeing this film and keeping a track of this director in the future.

-Michael J. Ruhland

Silent Film of the Month: The Student Prince in Old Heidelberg (1928)

 

Runtime: 106 minutes. Studio: MGM. Director: Ernst Lubitsch. Writers: Hanns Kräly, Ruth Cummings, Marian Ainslee. Based on the book by Karl Heinrich and the play by Wilhelm Meyer-Förster.  Producers: Ernst Lubitsch, Irving Thalburg. Main Cast: Roman Novarro, Norma Shearer, Jean Hersholt. Cinematographer: John J. Mescall.





One thing (out of very many things) I love about movies is when you find a film that has been surprisingly overlooked, but is just as good as the ones that are considered classics. The Student Prince in Old Heidelberg is definitely one of these, as everything in this film is near perfect. This film isn't forgotten but it isn't talked about as one of the classic silent films. It really makes me wonder how a film directed by Ernst Lubitsch and featuring Norma Shearer (two names that should definitely resonate with many classic movie lovers) that is this good can possibly be so overlooked.  

The Student Prince in Old Heidelberg was Ernst Lubitsch's first film for MGM. This was the studio for which he would later make such well loved films like The Merry Widow, Ninotchka, and The Shop Around the Corner. Lubitsch began his career in Germany. His first film Fräulein Seifenschaum, was a 1914 film that is unfortunately lost today. Rather than the sophisticated comedies that he would be known for in the 1930's, at this time Lubitsch was known for making costume dramas, and film with a fairytale like atmosphere. He would move to the U.S.A. to direct a 1923 costume drama staring Mary Pickford called Rosita. While there was definitely a lot of tension between Lubitsch and Pickford, the film was a success both with critics and audiences. He would naturally stay in America to make more of these films. However one senses while watching The Student Prince in Old Heidelberg that he still had deep nostalgia for growing up in Germany. On top of that this film in many ways feels like one of his German films. It seems to take elements of both his costume dramas and his fairytale-like films, and it combines them perfectly.

Interestingly Ernst Lubitsch was not originally going to be the director of this film. The director was originally going to be Erich von Stroheim. However Stroheim had a bad relationship with producer Irving Thalberg. This was because Thalberg had done massive edits to Greed and The Merry Widow (interestingly Lubitsch would later make another film version of this story for MGM), two films Stroheim had directed, before they reached theaters. Because of this Stroheim not only turned down this film, but he also left MGM.

Ramon Novarro and Norma Shearer, the two main stars of this film, did not always agree with Lubitsch. One reason for this was that Lubitsch insisted on little time for rehearsal. Because of this various scenes would have many retakes before they turned out right. Though not proven true (or false for that matter), one rumor states that one scene for this film was shot 102 times. Lubitsch once ended up yelling at Norma Shearer, telling her that a studio waitress to play a barmaid better. Shearer was driven to tears by this remark. Another rumor that hasn't been proven true (or false) is that Norma Shearer told Irving Thalberg about this incident, and Thalberg responded “Everyone has a lot to learn from Mr. Lubitsch.” If this was true then it didn't hurt their relationship, because Shearer and Thalberg would marry a week after the movie was released.

Lubitsch was not overly happy with either star. However the studio said that he had to use Ramon Novarro and Norma Shearer. Despite this both of them give amazing performances here. Lubitsch would still never be satisfied with eithers performance.

One love scene did not satisfy anyone working on the film. It has been stated that Irving Thalberg called in director John M. Stahl to re-shoot the scene. If this is true than it might have had to do Stahl directing Ramon Novarro in the 1927 movie Lovers?. However Andrew Marton, the editor for the film, stated that Lubitsch directed every scene of the film. However Marton also stated that Lubitsch never liked the scene.

In this film Crown Prince Karl Heinrich (Played by Ramon Novarro) is tired of his sheltered life and longs to live in the outside world. The prince and his tutor, Dr. Jtter (played by Jean Hersholt) are allowed to go to Heidelberg. Here the prince can live life as he always wanted to. He also falls in love with a young barmaid named Kathi (played by Norma Shearer). However when his father  (Played by Gustav von Seyffertitz) becomes sick Karl must travel back to his home to attend to royal duties.

The film lost money at the box office and received mixed reviews from critics.

Despite this the film is incredible. Nearly everything works perfectly. The story, the characters, the cinematography, and the all around atmosphere are all amazingly well done. This film is also profoundly moving, and one that definitely can bring tears to my eyes, and I assume it would do the same for many of you. This is a must watch.

-Michael J. Ruhland

Resources Used
http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/835/The-Student-Prince-in-Old-Heidelberg/articles.html
http://www.silentfilm.org/the-student-prince-in-old-heidelberg-1927

Movie Review: Florence Foster Jenkins

Review Written by Michael J. Ruhland



















Michael's Movie Grade:A-

Review: Intelligent, funny and moving. A fantastic film.


This film is really great. It is very funny, often times laugh out loud so. However the drama is equal effective. The combination between the drama and comedy is done amazingly. Neither the drama, nor the comedy, get in the way of each other. In fact the compliment each other very well. The comedy makes the drama better and the drama makes the comedy better.

The entire cast for this film are fantastic in their roles. Despite them being well known actors and actresses, you see them as the characters rather than the people playing them. They feel like they are the people their playing. They are very funny, but they never play it in a way that the characters feel less real. This allows the comedy to be as funny as it is and the dramatic scenes to be as great as they are.

The time period used for this film is represented great. It looks very authentic, and allows the film to have a great look different from most films today.

This is simply a great film.

-Michael J. Ruhland

Michael's Christmas Movie Guide: The Unholy Three (1925)

 

Note: Okay this may not really be a Christmas movie, but some very important story points take place during the Christmas season,  particularly Christmas Eve.


Fantastic silent film.

Though this was far from director Tod Browning's first film, it was the one that truly defined who he was a director. Though his early films had some strange stuff, this film was very weird as you would expect from this director. Browning would go on to direct such films as Freaks, The Unknown and Dracula (1931). All of these films reveled in the bizarre and strange. In this film Browning also worked with actor Lon Chaney, who he had great collaborations with such as The Unknown, London After Midnight, Where East is East and West of Zanzibar.

The story involves three former sideshow performers a ventriloquist named Echo (played by Lon Chaney), a midget (played by Harry Earles), and a strongman (played by Victor McLaglen), who work with a pickpocket named  Rosie O'Grady (played by Mae Busch (who my fellow Laurel and Hardy lovers should recognize)), whom Echo is in love with. The work at a pet shop as a cover for a man named Hector (played by Matt Moore), who loves Rosie. After a robbery on Christmas Eve  ends with murder, the whole gang turns against each other and Hector is blamed for the robbery.

This is a great film. The weirdness works perfectly and just adds a great atmosphere (especially a very strange scene involving an ape). The actors are perfectly cast. The story is quite a good one as well.

This film would be remade in 1930 as a talkie. Though that film would also star Lon Chaney, it would be directed by Jack Conway, instead of Tod Browning. The remake would be Lon Chaney's only appearance in a talkie (and his last film) as he would die shortly after.

-Michael J. Ruhland

Resources Used
http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/14037/The-Unholy-Three/articles.html
imdb.com

Silent Film of the Month: Dr. Pyckle and Mr. Pride (1925)

 

Runtime: 21 minutes. Studio: Joe Rock Comedies. Directors: Joe Rock, Scott Prembroke. Writer: Tay Garnett . Producer: Joe Rock. Main Cast: Stan Laurel, Julie Leonard, Pete the Dog. Cinematographer: Edgar Lyons.

It is October and that means it is time for scary creepy movies. However the silent film of the month this month is neither scary nor creepy, but it is funny. We are instead going to look at Dr. Pyckle and Mr. Pride, a comedic variation on the famous horror story of Dr. Jeckel and Mr. Hyde starring Stan Laurel.

Stan Laurel of course would later go on to be half of possibly the movies' greatest comedy duo, Laurel and Hardy. However both Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy had fairly good film careers before teaming up. Stan had been the star of quite a few short films, and even worked briefly as a director of short subjects (he would even direct Yes Yes Nanette which would feature Oliver Hardy in a supporting role, before the two would become a team). Oliver Hardy worked mainly as a villain in many short comedies playing against such silent stars as Larry Seamon and Billy West.

Some of Stan Laurel's best films before teaming with Oliver Hardy were a series of movie parodies. These films were made for the Metro studio (MGM had not been fully formed yet) under the supervision of former cowboy star G.M. Anderson (who also help produce some of Charlie Chaplin's films in 1915).  Probably the most famous of these would be Mud and Sand (made for the Quality Film Studio), a parody of Blood and Sand. Blood and Sand stared Rudolf Valentino, and Stan Laurel spent much of that short parodying Valentino's mannerisms. This film was made later for independent producer Joe Rock (who also directed some of the films Stan made for him, including my Silent Film of the Month), but was obviously a callback to these earlier films.  However in Dr. Pyckle and Mr. Pride there is little to no kidding of John Barrymore. Rather this film is a parody of the Dr. Jeckell and Mr. Hyde story rather than a direct parody of a star who had played in a previous film version.

The story of this film centers around the prim and proper English gentleman Dr. Pyckle (played by Stan Laurel). When Dr. Pyckle takes a potion he created he becomes the childish prankster Mr, Pride, who annoys the whole town with his practical jokes.


This is an excellent film and my favorite film Stan Laurel made before teaming with Oliver Hardy. It is very funny and Stan Laurel is perfect at playing these characters that are quite different from the Stan character we usually see him play. I think the reason these parody films are some of Stan's best films of this era are because they give Stan a ready set character. While many of other earlier films of him feel like they are searching for a character for him to play and they haven't quite figured the character out yet.

This film looks very good. One reason for this is that it was shot on already existing sets on the Universal Studios Lot.

Despite how this film ranks among one of Stan Laurel's best solo films it was not seen as such at the time by critics. Critics saw it as good, but not as good as Stan Laurel's previous work.

This film was considered lost for years but it wasn't. It was owned by archivist Raymond Rohauer, who for some reason didn't allow the public to see the film. Strangely though clips from the film did appear in Jay Ward's (of Rocky and Bullwinkle fame) TV show Fractured Flickers, which used silent movie clips with new humorous narration. However today we can luckily see the film.

During the period where Stan Laurel was working for Joe Rock (which includes this film), he was in-between time periods of working at Hal Roach studios, where the best Laurel and Hardy films were made. He had left working for Metro in 1923, because of problems with Louis B. Mayer, and went to work for Hal Roach. In 1924 Stan left Hal Roach for Joe Rock. However in 1926 he would come back to Roach as a writer and director. By 1927 he was appearing in front of the camera again, where he would be paired with Oliver Hardy and make movie history.

-Michael J. Ruhland

Resources Used
The Life and Times of Laurel and Hardy by Amy Dempsey.
Stan Without Ollie: The Stan Laurel Solo Films 1917-1927 by Ted Okuda and James L. Neibaur
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0015763/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_130