With so many comic book properties having either run their course, or underwhelming at the box office, it’s great that fans of the genre are getting a breath of fresh air in the form of lesser-known properties. Big Hero 6, for those of you who don’t follow anything but A-list super heroes, is a Marvel property. Albeit an obscure one, sometimes it takes a horse of a different color to not only grab audiences, but keep them engaged. Given that Disney Animation has turned a corner in recent years (see: Wreck-It Ralph, Frozen) – not only embracing the digital realm but doing so with equal portions of talent and budget…
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Off the Shelf…’Porco Rosso’
Of all the fanciful adventures Hayao Miyazaki has taken the world on, fan-favorite Porco Rosso might just be the odd member of the family. A male-centric story about a fighter pilot, cursed to live life as a pig, doesn’t seem that odd or whimsical when you stack up the film’s brief synopsis against any other Studio Ghibli title. But while this story comes across as a breezy mix of ideas (and a quasi love-story), there’s a real sweetness to the themes, a fun sense of adventure, and lots of laughs. There are also plenty of lovable characters in Miyazaki’s love letter to the films right out of Hollywood’s golden age. At GoSeeTalk, we are…
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Off the Shelf…’Pom Poko’
Without fail, and regardless of the plot, there are a number of similar and familiar themes running through every Studio Ghibli feature. Yet among the most prominent – feminism, and characters far removed from their element or comfort zones – environmentalism is a common through line. Co-founder Isao Takahata isn’t normally known for a lot of levity or fluff in his films. Think about Grave of the Fireflies and The Tale of Princess Kaguya and it’s easy to imagine Takahata as the Felix Unger to his partner, and fellow Studio Ghibli co-founder, Hayao Miyazaki. Pom Poko is rife with weighty and mature themes. At the heart of the film is the message…
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Off the Shelf…’Tales From Earthsea’
Even now, more than a year after the announcement, the world continues to reel from the news of Hayao Miyazaki’s retirement. His swan song was the well-received and beautifully haunting The Wind Rises. Yet it wasn’t the first time he hinted at bowing out. Of all the animators out there, it was thought that another Miyazaki would keep the studio banner waving. In fact, this particular Studio Ghibli film is directed by his son Goro. We first took a look at Tales From Earthsea years ago, and we were really hoping that now, after a third outing, it would have grown on us. Considering the talent involved, even on the dubbed…
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Off the Shelf…’The Hundred-Foot Journey’
The Hundred-Foot Journey is a wonderful film that shows that while we as nations and races may still be divided, we can come together in a great many ways. One of those is a very simple one – food. Hassan Kadam has one passion and goal in life: to cook. Playing an important role in his life, his mother was responsible for teaching his to smell, taste, and prepare the ingredients. His family’s restaurant was quite famous, and brought a great many people to their tables because of traditional culinary masterpieces. Yet a political upheaval resulted in riots, and the restaurant was left in the wake of the resulting madness.…
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Off the Shelf…’Muppets Most Wanted’
There are few things human beings simply cannot live without – food, water, shelter and, every few years or so, a Muppet movie. While we were weren’t entirely fond of the gang’s last outing, this sequel is the sure-fire jolt to the funny bone fans have been patiently waiting for. More credit where it’s due, director James Bobin worked out all the kinks and seems to know where to take things from here on in. To quote a certain frog, Yaaay!!! The Muppets are a very self-aware bunch which, among a laundry list of criteria, is part of their charm. As such, the film starts right on the heels…
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Off the Shelf…Disney’s ‘The Pirate Fairy’
Walt Disney Home Entertainment’s The Pirate Fairy is another excellent installment in the Disney Fairy series. Whether or not you have enjoyed any of the previous Tinker Bell movies, you are really in for a treat with this installment. The Pirate Fairy is the best of the Disney Fairy series to date. It’s difficult to know what to expect in a title that is released directly to video. Yet this latest fantasy based offering from the Mouse House is a pleasant surprise – you probably won’t expect how enjoyable this little film is. Watching it with young ones will easily prompt a repeat viewing and this has enough charm that…
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Off the Shelf…’Saving Mr. Banks’
A spoonful of sugar, as they say, helps the medicine go down. In the case of Saving Mr. Banks, John Lee Hancock needn’t any help coaxing people to eat up his charming quasi-biopic. But still, that idea of needing something to sort of grease the rails to get a job done really captures the spirit and the idea of the entire film itself and does make the film so much more palatable. On the surface it’s fun to see the crotchety British writer thumb her nose at Disney’s candy-coated empire, but there’s so much more to it than that. Now Saving Mr. Banks, despite the appeal and allure of one Walt Disney (played…
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Off the Shelf…’Frozen’
Awards season sure was kind to Walt Disney’s Frozen and that’s because it is so deserving of all the praise. This clever and hilarious throwback to the princess films of the past was a huge hit in theaters but it also managed to snag some praiseworthy Oscars for “Best Animated Film” but also “Best Original Song” at the 86th Annual Academy Awards. Chris Buck’s endlessly delightful film really helps carry the torch for the studio’s new direction while staying true to the Disney legacy. Tangled and Wreck-It Ralph, even Bolt to some degree, were solid attempts at Disney getting into the CG game but Frozen has shown the world that…
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Off the Shelf…’The Jungle Book’
If you were to peek into the famous “Disney Vault” you might be overwhelmed with the plethora of titles the Mouse House has to its name. Moreover, a cross-section of the legendary studio reveals a myriad of success and skill at spinning and reworking all manner of titles ranging from Shakespeare to Hans Christian Andersen to The Brothers Grimm. With more than 50 features (more if you count their various labels and distribution arms) The Walt Disney Company, simply put, is king of animated interpretations and adaptations. 1967’s The Jungle Book is a feature inspired by Rudyard Kipling’s book of the same name. It is one of their older titles,…
