Frozen (2013)

Lauren and I saw the new Disney movie last week. We were off to Bruges where the annual ice sculpture festival's theme was THIS film, we ended up not seeing the ice sculptures- we were too busy constantly eating. But the film was nice, I liked the message (don't marry the first guy that comes along) and I liked all the songs. 

Up (2009)

I thought I'd write a little bit about Up here because when watching it with my mum in the middle of the night I said as Russell and Mr Fredrickson went into that storm "What if they actually died at this point and the rest is them just in limbo trying to find heaven?" which freaked my mum out and she said "It's Paradise Lost!"
I think she meant Paradise Regained, Paradise Lost is just Adam and Eve. Paradise Regained, as far as my understanding is, is Jesus wandering in the wilderness and being tempted by the devil. That's Up, init?
But what I reckon what mum actually meant was it's the Divine Comedy. Hey, all these things were written in rhyme way back when! But when mum was drawing comparisons she was drawing them to the Divine Comedy not Paradise Lost or Regained! Plus they're all about the same sort of stuff; heaven and hell!
Dante is guided by Beatrice, his ideal woman, the one he met as a kid, through Heaven. Then he falls and so Virgil, his poet guide, rescues him and guides him through hell and then into a sort of limbo, there's a load of lost souls there and he has to think about what's important and let go of some stuff. Once he lets go he is able to understand god and he is happy.
Now that is Up. And if you were wondering Virgil is Russell and the lost souls are all those dogs who have human voices.

Brave (2012)

 Me and Anna also saw this one. It was ok, when not comparing it to other Pixar films, jus comparing it to other recent Disney films, it was ok and I liked the bear. But compared to the standard of Pixar's other films (not including Cars) it was bland, very very bland.

Tangled (2010)

This one on the other hand was fab. The plot was simple and easy to follow and there were loads of gags, the characters were dopes and no one was serious about anything.
Animation was stunning too, not just churned out because Disney noticed there's a black president.
A few too many songs but other than that the whole family enjoyed it, loved the horse!

The Princess and the Frog (2009)

Disney's odd attempt to welcome the Obama administration failed miserably with bland bland characters as they tried so hard to be PC. Scared to give their black heroine any traits that might make her human the only interesting character was the cliche send-up of the spoiled white brat, she was funny and cute whilst all the bland black characters could have been anybody.
Also the plot was all over the place, kids don't know what voodoo is!! I refuse to believe any child could follow that.

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011)

Ok. I didn't want to see it, but then last sunday BBC2 showed Curse of the Black Pearl and I watched it and loved it- because it is good. Then I got in the mood for the second one, because I actually really liked that one, the special effects were great and Norrington was in it a lot looking handsome- also Jonathan Pryce did some hero-ing, helping Elizabeth escape, and I liked that. The second film is actually my favourite one. That's why I was so utterly disappointed by the third film, it was all over the place and lacked both Norrington and JP.
So I didn't want to see this one, what if it was as bad- or worse!- than the third film?! But we'd watched them all last week and after seeing the third one again I realised Pirates 4 couldn't possibly be as bad as the third one! So we went to see it.
And it was ok, a good adventure plot and lots of swashbuckling. It wasn't as terrible as three but it wasn't as enjoyable as the other two, it just seemed to lack feeling.
It lacked this because Jack did not have his pals around him, he had no one to banter with, when Gibbs showed up it was great, they were great together, funny and warm, but when he was among the new cast it was like he was alone, he never connected with them and as we learned from the third film, Jack on his own is not funny, he's boring and he looked bored in this film.
Blackbeard's beard wasn't as terrifying as it could be, Penelope Cruz was ok and came closest to being the replacement pal that Jack desperately needed. The missionary and the mermaid seemed superfluous, Jack never spoke to them so we the audience never cared- The films are about Jack! He wasn't even a Captain in this film! That's like, 80% of who that character is! no wonder he seemed so lost!
Anyway, the thing I actually enjoyed in the film was Barbossa, who I never really cared about, it's just in this one he seems to have the most thought out plot! He looks to have gone straight but he's joined the navy to get revenge for losing his ship (and leg), he gets his revenge in the end and gets a much better ship so his plot was all nicely tied up. When he was with Jack the banter returned. Also he had fun scenes with the British, Uncle Monty (Richard Griffiths) as the King and two officers from the other films (the only returning characters aside from Jack, Barbossa and Gibbs!) Gillette and Groves- not sure which is which.
So I was happy to see the handsome officer from the first film, the one who stands behind Norrignton and says "That has to be the best pirate I've ever seen!" I always wondered why he didn't get more screentime, he was there throughout the film and soon became my favourite character- though as soon as he took his wig off I was glad he got shot at the end, good profile and eyebrows, hair not good. Sorry mate.

Candleshoe (1977)

As if it wasn't obvious Jodie Foster wasn't uber-gay right from the beginning! In this Disney film angry little American tomboy Jodie decides to go in with Leo McKern to scam an old British lady out of a fortune by pretending to be her long lost granddaughter- whether she actually is or not is never revealed.
Jodie gets the riches in the end of course, she has to solve a bunch of clues to get them too, that's an old Disney style adventure for you... but she learns that family and friends and being British are more important, with the help of some loveable orphans (older boy, rival girl, cute cockney boy and token asian kid) and David Niven.
I love David Niven. Shouldn't I be watching The Bishop's Wife like right now?! My fave actors of old are himself and Anton Walbrook, the warm charm of Niv and the intensity of theatrical Walbrook, tha's what I love.
In Candleshoe Dave, as the butler, has to disguise the fact that there is no more money and cuts costs by disguising himself as the gardener, the chauffeur and the only visitor who ever comes to the house, a handsome old colonel. What ridiculous crap! Loved it!