tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post2294031124088065070..comments2023-11-03T06:02:02.128-07:00Comments on By Ken Levine: MOANA: My reviewBy Ken Levinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17305293821975250420noreply@blogger.comBlogger35125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-53258202412683138142016-12-06T17:45:58.952-08:002016-12-06T17:45:58.952-08:00From a certain perspective, aren't ALL stories...From a certain perspective, aren't ALL stories essentially the same? Joseph Campbell and "The Heroes Journey", etc? But I think it's a valid criticism that Disney is just spinning the globe (thanks, Pat Reeder) to find a new place to set the same story. Scott Mumfordhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04110080489700513676noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-86218853808753116332016-12-02T17:19:47.616-08:002016-12-02T17:19:47.616-08:00Anonymous
Ken addresses that question on April 16,...Anonymous<br />Ken addresses that question on April 16, 2016, and there are a lot of comments about the issue over two days, if you want to read it. <br />And just ignore Andrew's comment above. People who say that just don't get it. Diane Dnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-6826531221982105022016-12-01T12:47:31.140-08:002016-12-01T12:47:31.140-08:00I saw Moana two days ago and despite buying one of...I saw Moana two days ago and despite buying one of the tracks and listening to one of the pop "covers" that played over the credits, I can't remember the songs beyond their conceit. I loved the David Bowie as crab demon bit but... eh? I read an article about how one of the songs from the movie is CLEARLY this year's "Let It Go" but I will be damned if I could hum it for you if my life depended on it. Which is funny because the screening I saw was bookended by a trailer for the live action Beauty and the Beast and even the few notes played there conjured up entire songs... and the ongoing sense of why the holy hell would anyone remake THAT?!!?<br /><br />Visually it was stunning, I was moved to tears a couple of times (I'm sorry, the scene of toddler Moana playing with the ocean just... IT WAS DUSTY!!!) and I'm really glad I saw it. But this is going to be a movie I get the DVD specifically for all the behind the scenes footage and research more than actually seeing the movie again.Chrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07159294212873576818noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-62072866646674778932016-11-30T15:02:31.458-08:002016-11-30T15:02:31.458-08:00Wonder how much the quality was impacted by rewrit...Wonder how much the quality was impacted by rewrites from the original story. I think Entertainment Weekly reported that it initially focused a lot more on the Rock's character, and I know from Miranda's twitter feed that what he contributed was based on a work that definitely changed a lot by the time of release.OrangeTomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00646201922534161236noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-43043107027968085752016-11-30T12:14:06.138-08:002016-11-30T12:14:06.138-08:00All of these Disney princess flicks are supposed t...All of these Disney princess flicks are supposed to be acceptable so long as you keep insisting that the movies are "empowering."Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-30855660257169945712016-11-30T05:58:14.473-08:002016-11-30T05:58:14.473-08:00Answer to Anonymous re Sam and Diane:
"It...Answer to Anonymous re Sam and Diane:<br /><br />"It's just a tv show!" - William ShatnerAndrewnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-5784829676786684852016-11-30T01:29:08.653-08:002016-11-30T01:29:08.653-08:00Oh, and @ D. McEwan, technically "Finding Nem...Oh, and @ D. McEwan, technically "Finding Nemo" wasn't a Disney movie as it was released in 2003 and Disney didn't acquire Pixar till 2006. So my comment stands. ;-}YEKIMIhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01921751875397071034noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-13207731020512400842016-11-30T01:24:01.459-08:002016-11-30T01:24:01.459-08:00@ D. McEwan
Nope, never saw Finding Nemo or Find...@ D. McEwan <br /><br />Nope, never saw Finding Nemo or Finding Dory. Something fishy about those Pixar movies.<br /><br />YEKIMIhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01921751875397071034noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-37373537014071434992016-11-29T23:44:52.409-08:002016-11-29T23:44:52.409-08:00Hi Ken!!! Huge fan of yours, I'm 17 & I...Hi Ken!!! Huge fan of yours, I'm 17 & I've been binge watched all of cheers in a month. Idk if you'll even see this but I am just as immensely confused as to why Sam & Diane didn't end up together. I am a die hard fan of theirs & I've analyzed their relationship multiple times and I can't get understand why they couldn't just be together. I get that they were different but that what made their dynamic work. Diane brought out a sensitive side in San and Sam brought out a spontaneous side in Diane. Also, Sam had so much character growth through the whole 11 seasons. By the end, he had finally got over that womanizing phase and was ready to settle down and really commit. The only person he ever truly loved was Diane. By not making them end up together, it erased the 11 years of growth and the show basically ended where it started. Diane is the only woman he would ever truly be happy with and you know they are never going to get over each other. Most people wanted them to end up together so why couldn't they just to satisfy the fans that waited so long to see Diane return? I get that you wanted it to be somewhat realistic and show that sometimes no matter how much you love a person you just are too different blah blah but also this is a fictional show so couldn't you just let us all be happy and given us the Sam/Diane ending we all wanted? You could have used the alternate ending scene for the series finale which was written so perfectly and would have been such a treat to see Sam & Diane back in their element. No disrespect whatsoever & I really admire your work. I just don't understand!! Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-43518212835398200662016-11-29T21:13:05.974-08:002016-11-29T21:13:05.974-08:00I think that Disney has now refined a formula as s...I think that Disney has now refined a formula as specific as a cake recipe, and all they're doing is spinning a globe, putting their finger down and randomly picking a different location/culture/ethnicity to apply it to. "Moana" is the South Pacific version. "Beauty and the Beast" was the Germanic version. "Mulan" was the Chinese version. "The Princess and the Frog" was the African-American/Creole version. "Frozen" was the Icelandic version. "The Little Mermaid" was the Amphibian-American version. It's the United Colors of Benetton of cliches. <br /><br />To Blinky: I never saw "Gilmore Girls" either, but based on clips and parodies that I've seen, I assume they must film it the way Howard Hawks directed "His Girl Friday": by timing a run-through with a stop watch, then making the actors redo it faster and faster until the original 90-second scene zipped by in 45 seconds. Pat Reederhttp://www.hollywoodhifi.netnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-49306138842019226812016-11-29T19:44:52.667-08:002016-11-29T19:44:52.667-08:00Few movies -- including live-action -- in the last...Few movies -- including live-action -- in the last few years have made me laugh as hard or as often as PENGUINS OF MADAGASCAR. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10867054275380267042noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-63629845288192250992016-11-29T15:13:55.148-08:002016-11-29T15:13:55.148-08:00"YEKIMI said...
This is the first Disney movi...<i>"YEKIMI said...<br />This is the first Disney movie I can recall that actually has a pee joke in it."</i><br /><br />Did you miss <i>Finding Nemo</i>? There was a baby octopus character that, every time she was excited or scared, would "Ink herself." Yes, it was ink, not pee, but the gag clearly was that she was constantly pissing herself, only it was OK because it was "Ink."D. McEwannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-40884526838587976502016-11-29T15:06:45.932-08:002016-11-29T15:06:45.932-08:00Well, the thing about cobbling a kid's movie t...Well, the thing about cobbling a kid's movie together out of way over-used cliches is, if you're a little kid, the intended audience, and you're seeing them for the first time, they're not yet cliches.<br /><br />That said, having no kids, I'll be skipping it.D. McEwannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-8052305414943250022016-11-29T14:20:25.601-08:002016-11-29T14:20:25.601-08:00We saw it yesterday. The Mad Max coconuts were my ...We saw it yesterday. The Mad Max coconuts were my favorite part. Thought the whole thing was a nice movie. Probably wouldn't buy it though. I hated Frozen so very much. Beauty and the Beast is my favorite Disney Movie. Big Hero 6 my fav non Disney. Or was that officially Disney? Melissa C. Banczakhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04953145515216692625noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-40400914901880734732016-11-29T14:00:55.664-08:002016-11-29T14:00:55.664-08:00Thank you Mr.Levine for reviewing a movie after a ...Thank you Mr.Levine for reviewing a movie after a long time.<br /><br />You are the best in the sense, you are independent and have nothing to gain or lose with reviewing. But other critics sort of go with the crowd.<br />Boyhood - all critics went overboard with praise and only one didn't like. That person was panned and trolled (he wrote an article too about it, forgot his name).<br /><br />Some critics/reviewers of big newspapers here, have to give decent ratings since that moviemaker or theatres give ads or entire promotion deal to the media houses. An unholy nexus.<br /><br />Regarding "shit-ton of money" - all big-studio animated movies will make good money; because the audiences are kids of those who struggled due to poverty and a closed economy. Now with liberalization, they want their kids to have fun and see movies they couldn't. Hence family outing to malls ends with a movie for kids.<br /><br />These big-studios apart from getting great reviews, distribute little toys and stickers and what-not related to the movie to children thru schools (many palms are greased there too). The excited kids in turn pester their parents, who happily oblige.<br /><br />In such scenario, animated movies are easy money to be made, hence recycling of old formulas.<br /><br />Dhruvnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-27867774050592430202016-11-29T13:37:48.276-08:002016-11-29T13:37:48.276-08:00If you think Disney can't do dark, watch the B...If you think Disney can't do dark, watch the BORROWED TIME short from Pixar. <br /><br />https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USQDxdMyKdkODJenningsnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-61432490596195780712016-11-29T12:10:13.312-08:002016-11-29T12:10:13.312-08:00This is the first Disney movie I can recall that a...This is the first Disney movie I can recall that actually has a pee joke in it.YEKIMIhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01921751875397071034noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-90393247903024249252016-11-29T10:48:27.046-08:002016-11-29T10:48:27.046-08:001) I wish Disney would do more crazy and hallucino...1) I wish Disney would do more crazy and hallucinogenic stuff like the Pink Elephants sequence in Dumbo. <br /><br />2) A bit off topic but to answer Daniel's question - "How common do you think that is in the critical community? Is there a fear in the critical community of going against the conventional wisdom?" I remember hearing that many critics secretly hated "The Last Temptation of Christ" when it came out. They thought it was a lousy movie. But they jumped on the bandwagon and praised it to the skies so that they could stick it to the fundamentalists. I think it was Michael Medved who reported this (and of course he could be biased).Andrewnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-26428272971743825232016-11-29T10:44:35.483-08:002016-11-29T10:44:35.483-08:00Moana only gets a 98% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, s...Moana only gets a 98% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, so you're not quite alone.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10585546156631611352noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-47729277969541001352016-11-29T10:38:29.213-08:002016-11-29T10:38:29.213-08:00With each new Disney animation that follows the &q...With each new Disney animation that follows the "formula", I wonder if negative reactions like yours are directly related to when weariness of the formula kicks in.<br /><br />As for the recommendation by a commenter above for the movie ALLIED, I enjoyed it but Brad Pitt is curiously wooden in his role. The decision to dial back the charm was not a good one, it would seem. <br /><br />On the GILMORE GIRLS comment, the new shows on Netflix are pretty much what fans and detractors would expect. If you didn't care for it before, you won't watch very much of the new ones. If you've never seen it, you are either going to wonder what all the fuss is about or you will be inspired to binge watch the original. Ever since it debuted 2000, I have never been able to talk someone into liking GG. Jon B.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-79550779848390399042016-11-29T10:29:40.818-08:002016-11-29T10:29:40.818-08:00The predetermined narrative Daniel mentions may ju...The predetermined narrative Daniel mentions may just be consensus, but I've noticed that after the recent election, left-of-center sites like Slate and Salon seem to be positioning MOANA's hit status as a progressive win for the culture: "See, we're not an entirely racist bunch of jerks." There was a similar approval this summer of the multicultural aspects of the set-in-Japan KUBO AND THE TWO STRINGS, though most critics didn't seem to notice that the voice cast was, except for George Takei, all white movie stars. <br /><br />Speaking of stars and the history of Disney, though, honestly, does anyone care artistically that movie stars are such a part of these latter-day packages? Except when actors and comics have improvised and developed material - like the late Robin Williams and, I'm guessing, Ellen DeGeneres - I can't see much of an upside except promotion - which admittedly is a big deal... But it can backfire eventually: Mel Gibson's adequate vocal presences in the otherwise excellent POCAHONTAS and CHICKEN RUN make me wince a little now, and the topical references Williams added to ALADDIN must leave today's kids and parents scratching their heads. Walt himself cast honest-to-god great voice talents, honed in radio but without star status, that fitted the characters. As Ken has hinted before, people who are very good-looking are not necessarily funny - or talented behind a microphone. (Listen to LA Theatreworks, and you can hear the variable talent pool.)<br /><br />flurbhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04826553966794535101noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-34455525059192586982016-11-29T10:22:37.034-08:002016-11-29T10:22:37.034-08:00Unless, the Lin-Manuel Miranda train continues to ...Unless, the Lin-Manuel Miranda train continues to run over everything in its path (as it should for all things HAMILTON), My money's on 'Try Everything' from ZOOTOPIA to win all the best song awards.Sharon Jnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-43866712910344779292016-11-29T10:13:17.186-08:002016-11-29T10:13:17.186-08:00before we give too much credit to uncle walt's...before we give too much credit to uncle walt's skills in keeping things short, i point you to the two hour, twenty minute mary poppins...my eight year old loved moana. i liked it better than frozen (seriously, a minor change in parenting philosophy and there would have been no movie at all...), but less than zootopia. i particularly appreciated the lack of any romantic subplot at all in this one (and zootopia).sarahnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-14895611141365267232016-11-29T10:05:03.256-08:002016-11-29T10:05:03.256-08:00Haven't seen it. I never will. Thanks for th...Haven't seen it. I never will. Thanks for the review, Ken. Some movies should be watched in this manner--reading someone's review of it. Ralph C.https://www.blogger.com/profile/12488657064245017543noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-9526512650985193772016-11-29T09:13:40.359-08:002016-11-29T09:13:40.359-08:00You forgot to mention the 4 minute action sequence...You forgot to mention the 4 minute action sequence in every Disney movie that's obviously there to show you what the future ride will be based on, in this case the ride that will neatly shoehorn in between Tiki Room and Jungle Cruise.ODJenningsnoreply@blogger.com