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Fifteen Minute Freewrite #2… in 3D
So, Disney has just announced that they’re going to be releasing even more 3D conversions of classic films in the coming years, thanks in large part to the success of The Lion King in 3D the past few weeks. As of this writing, the film is still in the #3 spot at the box office, though for two weeks or more it held the top spot, and it’s likely to set the home market on fire again thanks to today’s Blu-Ray release.
What’s particularly astounding is that this is both good news for animated films of the 2D nature and also, possibly, a good sign for 3D films. While Sony has announced plans to charge audiences yet another premium for using the glasses starting in February, Disney has found another way to convert 3D film tickets into money by converting their older films. Re-releasing movies in theatres is hardly a new thing, especially for Disney, but charging a premium probably seems counterproductive. The Lion King would beg to differ.
Sony must be nuts if it thinks charging more for unproven films that are made in 3D. Disney’s re-releases of Finding Nemo, The Little Mermaid, Monsters, Inc., and Beauty and the Beast (already on Blu-Ray and about to be released in 3D on the home market, too!) have already proven to be classics that everyone loves, so it makes sense that Disney would follow the success of The Lion King with these four films.
Then again, the first two Toy Story films didn’t do so hot when re-released in 3D, and that was building up to the surefire hit Toy Story 3, which was simultaneously released in 3D and performed under expectations. That the first two films’ performances convinced Disney to hold off on re-releasing Beauty and the Beast in 3D around the same time just confuses me, though it’s plausible that the apparently poor translation into 3D that they did on those films has been updated using the newer conversion tech they used on The Lion King, and I’ve already heard good things about it at a test screening.
I write all this to say… I have no idea what’s going on. I do have to clock back in, however…
The Viewer’s Commentary: Coming Attractions
Hello everyone! I just wanted to thank you all for this past week. I’ve been figuring out scheduling and, while still quite a bit shaky, I am of course going to keep the articles coming. I’ve got some big things planned, but haven’t had much time to do it all thanks to a birthday party, church, and work, but I figured, in the spirit of cinema, that I would give you all a set of previews for some upcoming attractions I have coming that I’m really excited about!
REVIEWS – I’ve seen a few films this past week that I’m eager to get reviews of. One of them still in theatres, one of them well into its senior years, and two that are just now starting to toddle around. … Okay enough with the age analogies. Want some hints as to what these movies are? Well, the first one involves an epidemic so epic, I can list at least 8 major actors by name who appear in the film and still not touch on the number of people involved. The oldest film I plan on reviewing is actually a recently released Blu-Ray involving a pachyderm who rises to the big top. Hint hint… As for the other two, one is a fictional account of the assassination of a legendary outlaw, and the other revolves around a couple determined to be together despite a cosmic, all knowing bureaucracy. Hope you like variety! I’ve also got reviews of the Blu-Ray editions of The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi lined up – the discs are literally sitting in my living room waiting to be watched, and my eagerness to get to other movies is definitely going to motivate me to get those watched.
PIXAR IN REVUE – While this is primarily a prelude to a feature I’ve been planning to do since long before this site was even registered, I will be going through each of the major Pixar works, from the first shorts to Toy Story in 1995 to their recent and hopefully brief flirtation with pure commercialization in Cars 2, and then to infinity and beyond. All that will lead up to my most ambitious idea yet…
WALT DISNEY FEATURES: THE FEATURE – Similar to what I’m doing with Pixar, I will continue to express my love of animated films by going over each of the 51 Disney animated features and take a look at some upcoming works and related works. This one will take me the longest to do, so it will likely become a weekly-at-least type of feature, while I try to not only review and opine on the films, but also hopefully provide some historical context for each of the films, pertaining to not only Disney, but animation and even the world. I plan on doing an overview of each film as a primer before setting out to look at each on an individual basis. This is going to be quite difficult, especially since I plan on continuing work on other films, too, but I’m up for the challenge and I’m really looking forward to tackling this the most!
HORROR FILM MONTH – As always, October is going to be the month I begin focusing on horror films. This year, I’m planning on getting in touch with some of the more famous horror films I’ve always managed to avoid (A Nightmare on Elm Street, Halloween) while going over a few of my favorites, such as 28 Days Later, The Sixth Sense, Alien, and Psycho.
LISTS – Not so much a special thing I’m planning on doing as much as it is a regular feature I plan on doing, many of you may already know that I’m big on Top 10 lists, so expect me to fan the flames of discussion and discord while I make arbitrary lists of films and film-related things!
It’s about to get serious, and I appreciate both my friends and family who come here to support me as I indulge in my interests publicly and all of you who may possibly pass by this blog and find something worth your attention. I am but one man, but I do hope I can meet not just my own expectations, but yours too, and, again, I appreciate any support I get!
Thanks again everyone! I hope you are all as excited as I am!
Review: “The Simpsons Movie”
For my first two reviews, I’m going to do a bit of cheating, but hear me out!
These reviews are special, as they were what set me in the direction of being an aspiring film critic in the first place. See, my third year of college was a bit of a turning point for me, academically. I had spent a good portion of my time at Arizona State University as a Creative Writing major who secretly couldn’t make up his mind. When I discovered that the Department of English required their majors to take not one, but two years of foreign language, I knew I had to bail. Korean was a hard language to learn in the first year alone, and a second year would’ve likely wrecked my GPA. After a bit of exploration, I discovered the Bachelor’s of Interdisciplinary Studies degree, and chose to transition into that, with concentrations in Writing and Communication (a subject I chose based on prior electives and, mostly ,just to fulfill that second concentration, I admit).
One of the upper division classes I was encouraged to take was ENG 494 – Review Writing. The class ended up being one of, if not my absolute favorites in college, and the professor, Dr. Sarah Duerden, was definitely my favorite professor, and she gets good marks on Rate My Professor, too!
The review I post here is unedited from the paper I turned in, with appropriate modifications to the format to duplicate it on this page. The assignment was to do a film review in the style of a well known publication. For my review of The Simpsons Movie, I chose to emulate the style of one of my favorite entertainment sites, The A.V. Club, which is a fantastic source for entertainment news, reviews, and analysis written for entertainment buffs in a casual (often profane, I admit) but informative manner. I hope you enjoy!
An Ode to Pooh: Melancholy Ramblings on the State of Hand-Drawn Animation
Pooh and Christopher Robin head off into the sunset.
It’s the question on the lips of every animation buff’s lips: Is hand-drawn animation on its way out? Let me get this out of the way, as you likely already know my perspective on the matter: I certainly hope that it isn’t.
As of this writing, I’m eagerly anticipating the release of the Blu-Ray release of Disney’s 70-year-old classic Dumbo, a movie I haven’t seen in probably over a decade — I can’t even remember the last time I did see it, in fact! But outside of film, animation, and Disney uber-fans, is there any truth to former Disney dictator Michael Eisner’s supposition that, much like black and white movies, these movies no longer appeal to general audiences? Read more…
The Viewer's Commentary 