I LOVE Judy Garland. I could watch her movies and listen to her music all day (note to self: when I have a day completely to myself do that all day). With that I am excited and a bit nervous about the Judy Garland Biopic coming out this fall. The first trailer is out. This trailer certainly does not give enough information to know if this movie will be good or not. However the signs shown here are good, Reene Zelleger looks like Judy Garland and the singing is fantastic. Take a look at this new trailer for yourself.
To be honest, I don't know much about J.R.R. Tolkien's life. Still I could tell from watching this movie how it took many story elements from other biopics. However this movie overcomes these clichés very well due to a simple charm that I could not deny. This is definitely a movie that provides a nice deviation from many current blockbusters. This is not a noisy movie or an action packed one. Instead it is a quiet film. The quietness makes it feel like we are really spending time with and getting to know these characters. While all the side characters are not fully fleshed out, our main character and his romantic interest are fantastic. They are completely likable and their relationship is completely believable. As should be true with all movie romances, we enjoy seeing these two together. The chemistry between the two leads is absolutely fantastic and we truly get the feeling that these two were made for each other. Their conversations are also very interesting and well written. I loved their discussion in the restaurant and their argument after she meets his friends is very well written making both seem like real people instead of one being the good guy and one the bad guy. They are also given a beautiful romantic scene told with little dialogue beneath the opera. That scene showed what cinematic storytelling can do better than any other artform. Our title character is also very relatable on his own. Even at his lowest moments we feel and relate to him. There are times when just like us, he is unsure what he wants to or should do. The way this is handled is great making him feel perfectly human.
This may not break any ground cinematically and often falls into clichés of this type of movie but the movie works quite well, because it is simply charming.
Happy Saturday Morning my friends. You guessed it, now is the time for more classic cartoons.
We begin with an excellent Popeye cartoon from the Fleischer era. This cartoon is another one the deviates from the story of Popeye and Bluto fighting over Olive. However this cartoon still features Popeye and Bluto fighting. This cartoon features one of those great 3d backgrounds that appear in multiple Fleischer shorts of this era. For those of you unaware of how this was done model sets were built and the animation cels were placed inside. The look is amazing and is something no one has ever quite captured before or since the Fleischer cartoons. It is also important to remember in these Fleischer shorts Dave Fleischer is credited with directing, he was really more of a supervisor. What most people would consider directing was done by the first credited animator, which in this case is Seymour Kneitel. According to Jerry Beck's audio commentary for this film, future Looney Tunes writers, Warner Foster and Tedd Pierce worked on this cartoon.
Next up comes the last Looney Tunes cartoon made in black and white. By this time there had already been color Looney Tunes. The first color one, The Hep Cat (1942) came out a year earlier. Both cartoons show a change that had recently taken place in the Looney Tunes series and that was to feature non-reoccurring characters. It used to be that Looney Tunes always had reoccurring characters while its sister series Merrie Melodies did not. This cartoon would later be remade as the Sylvester and Tweety cartoon, I Taw a Putty Tat (1948), which even kept the same house address. So enjoy, Puss Gets the Booty (1943).
Just as The Pink Panther character first appeared in the animated opening credits to the live action feature film, The Pink Panther (1964), the Inspector first appeared in the opening credits for that movie's sequel, A Shot in the Dark (1964). The character was somewhat based off of the main character of both movies, Inspector Clouseau. Other characters from the cartoon series would be based off of characters from the live action film series. The Inspector's assistant Deux-Deux would be based off of Clouseau's assistant Hercule, from A Shot in the Dark while his name would come from a murder victim from that movie. The Inspector's boss would be based off of Clouseau's boss Inspector Dreyfus. The highlight of many Inspector cartoons was the villain. These were very imaginative and fun villains and this cartoon offers an especially good one. So enjoy The Shooting of Caribou Lou (1967).
Last up comes the classic Goofy cartoon, How to Be a Detective (1952). This cartoon was directed by Jack Kinney, one of Disney's wackiest and cartooniest short directors. His films were always full of wild and crazy cartoon humor and this cartoon is no exception providing many great laughs and a perfect ending.
Review: Ok this movie may have its share of faults, but despite all of them I had a lot of fun watching this movie, and isn't that what you want out of a movie called Detective Pikachu.
One of the big selling points of this film was obviously the humor. While it is not consistently laugh out loud hilarious, when it is funny, it is really funny. The whole scene with Mr. Mime is silly comedy at its best. The same can easily be said about any scene involving Psyduck. Psyduck is my favorite Pokémon and this film perfectly shows why. While Pikachu may not have as many hilarious quips as one might suspect, he still does have some really good ones. These quips are perfectly aided by Ryan Reynold's vocal delivery. This film also has some great action as well. There is a very action packed climax and it is tons of fun. What might be my favorite part of the movie though is the world it takes place in. The world is so vivid and real. I couldn't help wishing I could go and live there. Helping this out where little details like a Snorlax lying in the middle of the street or a Machamp directing traffic. This movie also does a great job setting up an atmospheric film noir world inside of the Pokémon world.
With this being a movie called Detective Pikachu, what is certainly missing is a sense of mystery. From his very first appearance I guessed who the bad guy was, and most of the twists similarly could be seen from a mile away.
This is no cinematic masterpiece and is not going to turn anyone into a hard core Pokémon-phile over night, but I certainly had lots of fun watching this movie and I hope you will too.
Review: Bland, forgettable and generic. This film tells us to embrace our uniqueness while it tries to copy so many other animated movies.
It is hard to believe that any person who has watched multiple animated movies in recent years could not feel like they have already seen every story point multiple times. However while some animated movies that follow this generic template for a story make up for it with good humor or characters, this film offers little to no entertainment simply leaving us with this beyond cliché storyline. Some of the rip-offs of other animated movies could not be more blatant. For instance Moxy's personality is little more than a blander version of Poppy from Trolls. Also I can't be the only one who immediately thought of the incinerator scene for Toy Story 3 during a similar scene here. The big difference is while that scene was emotionally powerful the scene here is completely devoid of any real emotion. Beyond this every joke feels completely forced and the characters are as bland as can be. Our hero, Moxy and our villain Lou have bland and cliché personalities, while the other characters have none at all. It is easy to wonder why Moxie had to have friends to accompany her on this journey when they add next to nothing to the proceedings.
One of the big selling points of this movie is the music. When a movie has Kelly Clarkson, Blake Shelton and Pitbull in it that should not come as a surprise. None of the songs here would amount to the best work of any of these artists. These pop songs are as generic as the story and often times the lyrics seem to be hitting us with the moral of the story over and over with no subtly whatsoever. With the voices of the cast and some admittedly catchy parts, this songs at times can be pleasant, but never anything more than that.
It is sad that a movie that is all about embracing our own uniqueness could have nothing unique about it whatsoever.
Hello my friends and welcome back to Cowboy Church.
Our musical selection begins with the Sons of the Pioneers performing Leaning on the Everlasting Arms. This recording is from 1937 when Roy Rogers was still a member of the group before going solo a year later. Next up comes Roy Rogers and Dale Evans performing Just a Closer Walk to Thee off their 1962 album The Bible Tells Me So. After this comes Tex Ritter performing his 1948 single Deck of Cards written by T. Texas Tyler. This is one of the two Tex Ritter songs to reach the top ten on the charts in 1948, the other being Rye Whisky. Next comes Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash performing a great gospel song and love song called Far Side Banks of Jordon. This song always gets me emotional because it reminds me of my grandparents. Following this is Hank Williams performing The Old Country Church on the Mothers Best radio show in 1951. This is one of the earliest songs Hank learned. It was written by James D. Vaughan, one of the earliest country artists and one of the founders of country gospel. Next comes Gene Autry's 1949 recording of an underrated gospel song, Bible On the Table. Last comes Kris Kristofferson and Larry Gatlin performing Help Me. This song was written by Larry Gatlin and hearing it helped bring Kris Kristofferson to Christ. This version is from Kris Kristofferson's 1972 album Jesus Was a Capricorn, one of the best country albums of the 1970's.
Here is a page from a 1937 issue of Boxoffice Magazine advertising the Tex Ritter movie, Sing Cowboy Sing (1937).
And whoever gives one of these little ones even a cup of cold water because he is a disciple, truly, I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward. Matthew 10:42Now this I say, he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must do just as he has purposed in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed. 2 Corinthians 9:6-8 He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. 1 John 4:8The LORD shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace. Exodus 14:14
Thanks for joining me. Happy trails to you until we meet again.
Happy Saturday morning my friends. That's right it is time for more classic cartoons.
We begin with a classic Frank Tashlin Porky Pig cartoon, Porky's Railroad (1937). This is one of the many cartoons of this time that used the formula of Porky being placed in a different job. In fact earlier the same year Tashlin had directed a very similar Porky Pig cartoon, called Porky's Building (1937). That film like this one featured Porky up against a rival for his job. This cartoon opens up using of Tashlin's favorite types of gags that of words appearing on the screen to introduce the action. Often times he would do this in the form of a "disclaimer", but here he simply introduces the two trains. Also notice the ship that Porky picks up is the SS Leon after the cartoon's producer Leon Schlesinger.
Betty Boop cartoons often really stand out and stay in one's memory because of their endless imagination and bizarre (but very funny) gags. Here we have an example of this at its finest with Betty Boop's Penthouse (1933). This cartoon does not contain much of a plot, but that doesn't matter as the plots of these films is often secondary (if not third-dary or fourth-dary). The humor is fast paced and very funny and the musical score is fantastically energetic.
The Pink Panther began his animated career appearing in the opening credits of Blake Edwards' great live action feature, The Pink Panther (1964). Blake Edwards contacted animation producers Friz Freleng and David DePatie to create an animated Pink Panther for this title sequence. They created many different panthers, but when Blake saw them he immediately knew which one he wanted in his film. The title sequence was a smash hit and the character was spun off into a series of theatrical cartoon shorts (at a time when those were on their way out). Today we will look at the first and possibly best of these cartoons, The Pink Phink (1964). This cartoon set a template for many more shorts to come. The basic storyline involves a formula that would be often used. The Pink Panther wants to turn everything pink much to the annoyance of a little man (who may look a little like Friz). The gags come fast and furious and the design work is lovely. All in all this cartoon was a delight and the best way to start this series possible.
Let us end with one of Walt Disney's great Alice Comedies. This is the great series of silent shorts that combined a live action little girl with animated characters, and was Walt Disney's first series of films with reoccurring characters. At this time the live action girl was played by Margie Gay, the second girl to play Alice. Also at this time the live action was becoming less important to the series. Earlier entries featured live action opening and closing sequences with the animation taking place in the middle. Here the live action opening and closings are completely gone . Not only this but Alice herself is playing a smaller role than before with her animated companions receiving more screen time. So enjoy Alice's Mysterious Mystery (1926).
Stay Tooned next week for more classic cartoons. Until then peace love and cartoons.
