Very funny & absolutely gorgeous celebration of Día de los Muertos. Over-reliance on pop culture gags & music cheapens otherwise great film.
Spoiler-free Movie Review of The Book of Life:
Will write full review later, but it was great and you should go see it.
Also make sure to watch the breathtakingly beautiful short film Día de los Muertos, by Ashley Graham, Kate Reynolds and Lindsey St. Pierre. It’s one of the most effective short films that I have ever seen. Achieves so much in such a short time…http://youtu.be/-v4-1wFEzM0
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Manolo, a young man who is torn between fulfilling the expectations of his family and following his heart, embarks on an adventure that spans three fantastic worlds where he must face his greatest fears.
Have you ever had a Halloween in which you failed to watch this? Feels kind of incomplete, doesn’t it? 3rd Peanuts special is 1 of the best.
Spoiler-free Movie Review of It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown:
Best piece of trivia I came across when researching this review? It was mentioned in the 20th anniversary Peanuts documentary and is also mentioned on imdb: “After this special originally aired, children all over the country sent candy to Charlie Brown out of sympathy.” I just love that…
I know I certainly always identified with Charlie Brown as a character growing up. I remember telling my dad during one of these specials that one of the kids at school said that I reminded them of Charlie Brown. I think Dad was offended on my behalf, but I didn’t really take it as an insult. I think all of us have moments of feeling like good ol’ Chuck. I don’t think I want to know a person who can’t empathize with Charlie Brown.
I’m not sure I could pin down which of the Peanuts specials is my favorite. A Charlie Brown Christmas was the first and greatest – a show that transcends a simple tv program – but this one really remains special.
So much about the program has entered popular culture that it’s hard to really see it with fresh eyes unless you watch it with a child (highly recommended). Then you can see the complete delight in watching Lucy yank away the football, getting kissed with dog lips, and the pure and beautiful conviction of Linus that the Great Pumpkin will rise out of the pumpkin patch, if only he can find the most sincere one…
It’s a real testament to Charles Schultz’s writing that these stand up as well as they do, despite the fact that they don’t shy away from dating themselves. Think of Snoopy’s antics as a World War I flying ace; this was a dated reference even when the show aired in 1966. And the Peanuts strips and animated specials are full of references that may be completely lost on modern audiences. It’s irrelevant – Schultz’s work remains about a boy named Charlie Brown. You don’t need to pick up the references to athletes of the day or anything to get the jokes or to understand his world.
(Actually, I was a real fan of the early days of air warfare as a kid; I actually had paintings of famous WWI battles on my walls, showing the last flight of Manfred von Richthofen (the Red Baron), his Fokker Dr. I being shot down by a Sopwith Camel near the Somme River, among others. So I was the exception, but it wouldn’t have mattered anyway. This is great comedy.)
Happy Halloween, Now Very Bad readers! I hope your pumpkin patch contains not a sign of hypocrisy.
[Cue fade out credits…]
Just wait till next year, Charlie Brown. You’ll see! Next year at this same time, I’ll find a pumpkin patch that is *real* sincere and I’ll sit in that pumpkin patch until the Great Pumpkin appears. He’ll rise out of that pumpkin patch and he’ll fly through the air with his bag of toys. The Great Pumpkin will appear and I’ll be waiting for him! I’ll be there! I’ll be sitting there in that pumpkin patch… and I’ll see the Great Pumpkin. Just wait and see, Charlie Brown. I’ll see that Great Pumpkin. I’ll SEE the Great Pumpkin! Just you wait, Charlie Brown. The Great Pumpkin will appear, and I’ll be waiting for him…I’ll be there! I’ll be sitting there in that pumpkin patch… and I’ll see the Great Pumpkin. Just wait and see…
Poster:
Trailer:
Bechdel Test:
Pass
The Representation Test Score:
Yeah, I’m not doing this for a Charlie Brown cartoon…
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Impossible to watch without being aware of the great talent that was snuffed out, but may we all leave such an indelible impression. #RIPLee
Spoiler-free Movie Review of The Crow:
When a tragedy precedes the release of a film, it’s hard to avoid becoming maudlin about it or lifting the work onto a pedestal. So it’s important to not canonize the late Brandon Lee or consecrate The Crow. It’s a good movie, not a great movie. That doesn’t mean I don’t love it – I do. But let’s keep our heads about this – it’s a very mixed bag.
The simple fact of the matter – the non-revisionist truth – is that I’d never even heard of Brandon Lee before he died. I guess one of my friends who watched martial arts movies might have mentioned him at some point, but my love of martial arts movies doesn’t extend beyond Big Trouble in Little China, so I would never have seen him in anything. And he wasn’t particularly famous or heralded for his acting. So is the legendary status bestowed on him and the film simply because of his tragic death at age 28? Absolutely not. This is a breakout performance far above anything he’d even hinted at previously, making the accident even more heartbreaking.
The Crow is based on a black & white graphic novel of the same name by James O’Barr. It’s a grim book, and I’m guessing the idea of adapting it into a feature film wasn’t an easy sell.
[schema type=”movie” name=”The Crow” description=”A man brutally murdered comes back to life as an undead avenger of his and his fiancée’s murder.” director=”Alex Proyas” actor_1=”Brandon Lee” ]
