Tag Archives: Disney

D23 Movie News Roundup

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This year’s D23, a conference every two years exclusively for members of the D23 fan club, was full of news about upcoming projects, but unfortunately it wasn’t the news that people were expecting to hear.  There was no Star Wars casting announcement, no surprises from Marvel or Pixar, no Pirates of the Caribbean sequel.  What there was, however, was lots of smaller casting announcements, plus an in-depth look at some films which we previously only knew the title of.  I’m a D23 member, but I wasn’t at the conference this year, but read on for the highlights of what was announced and shown, along with some of my opinions. Continue reading →

The Lone Ranger, Critics and the Box Office

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I really hadn’t planned on writing any more about The Lone Ranger, but a series of news articles and quotes that have been floating around this week, along with countless commentary, have me feeling like I should weigh in.  First, Disney has projected that it will lose $160-190 million on The Lone Ranger.  At the same time, or possibly in response to this, several people behind the film have piped up to blame the critics for the box office failure of their film. Continue reading →

Poster: Saving Mr. Banks

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I love movie posters, I even have a frame in my office at home that I use to rotate posters that catch my eye (it currently is displaying one from Skyfall).  Today, the Disney Parks Blog exclusively debuted the new poster for Saving Mr. Banks.  I looked at the trailer just last week, but check out the poster: Continue reading →

Trailer Tuesday: Saving Mr. Banks

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Welcome to “Trailer Tuesday” where I talk about trailers for upcoming movies, since I’ve always found them to be endlessly fascinating.

It’s been torture, having to wait until today to share this trailer with you.  I’ll save my thoughts for after, so go ahead and watch:

My obsession with all things Disney should be well know by this point to anyone who regularly reads this blog. Continue reading →

Friday Favorites: Favorite Moment – Tangled

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Welcome to “Friday Favorites” which highlight some of my favorite movie-related things.

I’ve mentioned previously my love for Tangled.  It has many things at appeal to me, specifically.  It’s hilarious, has great music, a strong female protagonist (in my opinion… I know there’s some disagreement about that) and is gorgeously animated.  The highlight of the film, musically, artistically and from the standpoint of character, comes as Rapunzel finally gets to see the “floating lights” that she has dreamed about her entire life.  But for me there’s one particular moment that I can relate to above all things.  Take a look, and read on for my favorite moment:

Continue reading →

Review/Analysis: The Lone Ranger

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The Lone Ranger is most likely not what you expect, though it probably has at least one or two moments (or silver bullets) aimed at you.  It’s not a devoted adaptation of the beloved TV show from the 50’s or the radio show from the 30’s.  It’s not a “Disneyfied” (hate that word, it’s so condescending) version of a Western, aimed at kids.  It’s not Pirates of the Caribbean on horseback, though your ability to enjoy The Lone Ranger might be related to your ability to enjoy that saga of movies.  It’s not even a live-action adaptation of Rango.  So what is it?

The Lone Ranger is a rip-roaring, funny, violent, subversive, political, Western action extravaganza.   Continue reading →

Review: The Blue Umbrella

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By this point it’s well known that all new Pixar films are accompanied in the theater by a Pixar short.  Over the years, these shorts, ten of which have been nominated for Oscars, have become as much a part of the Pixar experience as the feature films.  This year, Pixar attached a short entitled The Blue Umbrella to its release of Monsters University.

In some ways it’s difficult to review a film that only lasts six minutes.   Continue reading →

A Critic’s Manifesto

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I’ve been watching the Rotten Tomatoes score for The Lone Ranger slowly climb from a rather horrific 17% today, and it’s gotten me thinking about critics and reviews and the movie review industry as a whole.  In fact, I read a blurb from one review that stated, “Everyone wants this to be horrible,” and it makes me wonder how much film reviews in the industry are shaped both by what people expect from a movie, what they want to happen to the movie, and what they think people expect and want the reviews to say.  So if you’ll excuse the rambling, unorganized and meta nature of this post, here are some of my thoughts. Continue reading →

Trailer Tuesday: The Lone Ranger

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Welcome to “Trailer Tuesday” where I talk about trailers for upcoming movies, since I’ve always found them to be endlessly fascinating.

During my movie marathon a couple weeks ago, I saw a trailer for The Lone Ranger (out tomorrow) before my showing of Man of Steel.  There’s nothing unusual about this, and I fully expected it, but what I didn’t expect was this unusual take on a trailer instead of something more typical.  Take a look, and then read on for my thoughts:

Instead of a standard trailer we instead got a behind-the-scenes look at the film.   Continue reading →

What’s your favorite Pixar movie?

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With the recent release of Monsters University, many blogs and news sites have been ranking all of the pixar films, so I thought I would do the same with my favorites.  There is some flexibility here, as films tend to move up and down depending on my mood, but the general trend doesn’t change.  (You can also find my ranking of comic book superhero movies here.)  Read on for my list and for a poll.  Let me know what you think in the comments! Continue reading →