WE ROCK, YOU ROCK, THEY ROCK, WE ALL ROCK
Blog, TV
Posted on Sep 14 2010 by Greg
My kids and I get a kick out of how things are promoted and advertised, especially on TV. My wife and I are big on media literacy, since kids are exposed to advertising almost as soon as they're born.
Anyway, whenever a sequel to something approaches, the marketing department types tend to force "points" into things whether they fit or not. In the case of
Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam, their "strategy" was to make it clear that the second film is bigger and better. It's not exactly groundbreaking thinking, but you hear it all the time. So for the last several months Disney Channel has been having their stars tells us how this new
Camp Rock is "so much more (insert word here)." My kids laugh at this because of how it infers that that original is somehow inferior.
Of course, that's what advertising types must do -- always go for the new and improved. Curiously,
Camp Rock 2 seemed to me to be better than the first film -- but not so to my kids.
I liked the big, exuberant musical numbers. Clearly this film feels the influence of past phenoms like
High School Musical and
Glee. There's a lot more highly choreographed set pieces here and it's great stuff if you like MGM musicals and
Annette movies, which of course I do. The songs are more classic Hollywood "out of nowhere" than in the first film, where they were confined primarily to onstage settings.
My kids like musicals too, but they were missing the gentle, simple story of the first
Camp Rock. It was basically a cross between Cinderella (a prince seeking a voice rather than a shoe) and the
Mickey Mouse Club "Annette" serial (mean girl accuses nice girl of stealing).
The new movie really is bigger. All three
Jonas Brothers have key roles this time around, with the most endearing song sung by Nick.
Daniel Fathers as the camp leader is more of a plot focus also, as he competes with a rival camp led by an old rock rival (played by
Daniel Kash, an actor whom we were sure was related to
Tony Shalhoub in look and voice and still, we think, must be a distant cousin).
Therein may have been what lost my daughter in particular. The story was about ambition and business rather than boy meets girl -- or at least the romance took a backseat to the main plot. Don't get me wrong -- she likes the film and watched it again but prefers the first one.
The one thing we all agree on is the talent and likability of the star,
Demi Lovato. She had to carry the first film on her shoulders and delivers a strong presence and performance again. She has a
Sally Field quality and we hope she takes her life and career in the best possible dircctions. She's the real deal and we wish her well in the mine field of being a young star in show business.
The DVD does not offer more than a sing along (excuse me, a "rock along") option. The Blu-Ray disc also includes interviews.
THE VERSION OF SHERLOCK HOLMES YOU SHOULD BE HEARING ABOUT
Blog
Posted on Sep 03 2010 by Greg
It doesn't star
Robert Downey Jr., so it's not making big headlines, but
Tom and Jerry Meet Sherlock Holmes deserves more attention, one reason being that it actually comes across much better than you might expect when you first hear the title.
First of all, the idea of the battling cat and mouse living in the home of a noted human harkens back to classic MGM theatrical cartoons, like
Johann Mouse, in which Jerry danced to the music of Strauss. In this DVD feature, the duo are Baker Street co-residents and provide slapstick shtick in the course of a Victorian London mystery.
Say what you will about revivals of vintage cartoon characters, the issue is really whether the people behind the scenes care about the heritage and emotional value of the characters enough to make them appeal to young audiences but not forget the fans that made them beloved in the first place.
This film succeeds because the talent did indeed care. Veteran writer and acclaimed animation historian
Earl Kress brought his expertise to the script, adding nods for fans and blending in
Droopy and other great but not as well-known MGM characters such as
Spike,
Tuffy and
Butch. The Tex Avery cartoon
Red Hot Riding Hood is celebrated not only by including the libidinous
Wolf but by making
Red a major character in the story.
Sherlock Holmes enthusiasts will also get a chuckle out of the name of a character: "Brett Jeremy," a reference to
Jeremy Brett, who is one of the definitive actors to play Holmes along with Basil Rathbone. And speaking of actors,
Michael York is superb as the animated Holmes, with
Malcolm McDowell as Moriarity and
John Rhys-Davies as Watson. Voice actors include
Jess Harnell, Jeff Bergman, Grey Delisle and, doing a particularly accurate Tuffy voice,
Kath Soucie.
And, as it should be, Tom and Jerry do not speak in the classic tradition of the original cartoons, all of which were directed by
William Hanna and
Joseph Barbera and won seven Oscars.
MY PERSONAL TOP TEN FAVORITE CLASSIC TV SHOWS
Blog
Posted on Aug 14 2010 by Greg
PICK THIS ONE -- IT'S A PLUM!
Blog, Movies
Posted on Aug 10 2010 by Greg
(I used "plum" because "peach" would have been too obvious.)
There is a handful of Disney productions that I feel are underrated and
James and the Giant Peach falls into that category. Not as edgy as
The Nightmare Before Christmas, not as flashy as action/fantasies of its era, yet not conventional to be easily categorized,
James is a gem with a gentle sweetness (ooh, another peach pun) and unabashed stylization that makes it stand on it own as a unrecognized classic.
An early
Roald Dahl work with less of the bitter taste (sorry!) that characterized his adult fiction and crept into his children's books too (don't get me wrong, I love Dahl's work, but it's pretty tough stuff),
James and the Giant Peach is about a tortured youth (a Dahl trademark) who embarks on a magical journey with an unlikely team of garden creatures who have anthropomorphosized into talking friends).
The film, done with the cooperation of Dahl family members, is probably the most faithful visualization of his books, created with the artistry of
Lane Smith, whose books are also distinctive. Smith illustrated a special tie-in edition of James when the film was released, and along with a "making of" book by
Lucy Dahl, were among the sparse merchandise offerings connected with the film.
It's a musical of sorts, with some fine work by
Randy Newman, particularly the touching "My Name is James" and the showpiece "A Family," in which we hear
Richard Dreyfuss,
Susan Sarandon and
Jane Leeves, all giving spirited performances.
The live action segments are deliberately designed to be cartoonlike with no attempt at the gritty realism that took the enchantment out, in my opinion, movies like
Hook and
Return to Oz. It's a throwback to early fantasy cinema, and perhaps why it was not enthusiastically promoted nor received in its day.
James and the Giant Peach was released on DVD once before, sadly without a commentary. There's still none on this new edition, but a new game has been added to the Blu-Ray disc. Most of the other features remain, but the gallery feature has been moved exclusively to the Blu-Ray.
This is a highly recommended, old-fashioned family fantasy with all the classic elements and some astonishingly detailed stop motion. Director
Henry Selick moved on to the impressive
Coraline from here, and is now reportedly back at Disney. It will be nice to see if he creates a sparkling treasure along the lines of
James and the Giant Peach again.
BABULU AND TRON, TOO!
Blog
Posted on Aug 07 2010 by Greg
If Tron walked up to
Joan Rivers on the red carpet and she asked, "Who are you wearing?" he might say, "
Elois Jenssen." And if you memorized all those
I Love Lucy end credits over that satin heart, you might have noticed that the Oscar-winning costume designer for Lucy and the Mertzes was the same artist for the groundbreaking Disney fantasy.
Ms. Jenssen won the Oscar for 1949's
Samson and Delilah and was personally hired by
Desi Arnaz for the also-groundbreaking 1951 sitcom. Her
Tron work earned her another Oscar nomination and a Saturn Award win.
Elois Jenssen passed away in 2004 but when you see this year's highly anticipated
Tron Legacy, you'll nonetheless see costumes that drew from the originals -- outfits from the same person who put Lucille Ball into everything from a
Carmen Miranda getup to a stylish "Parisian" burlap sack. Waaaaaaaa!
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