Five Movies Make a Post
Aug. 24th, 2014 04:14 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
pedanther1. The local cineplex did start offering 2D showings of Guardians of the Galaxy after the first week or two. I still haven't found time to see it yet, but it's nice to know the option is there.
2. Sleeping Beauty, as I said last entry, was interesting to revisit after watching Maleficent. I can see now that some of the things I didn't like about Maleficent had their roots in the original movie, but I don't think that excuses them; what's the point of an irreverent retelling if not to fix the plot holes? And it made me even more annoyed about what Maleficent did to Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather, who by any reasonable standard are the heroes of Sleeping Beauty. On the other hand, it really stuck out at me that Aurora's mother goes through the entire film without a name; Maleficent at least got that right, even if it didn't give her any more to do. Another thing I have to acknowledge Maleficent did better was that its Aurora and Phillip looked their ages; animated Aurora looks significantly older than 16 years (not to mention demonstrating remarkable sophistication in hair and makeup for a girl who's spent all those years isolated in a forest).
Another interesting-revisiting-after aspect was seeing a bunch of ways Sleeping Beauty influenced later Disney films (and particularly Tangled; Phillip's horse is clearly a less intelligent relative of Maximus, to pick out one of the more obvious points).
3. Snow White was interesting because I've never actually seen it all the way through before, so watching it was a mixture of bits familiar from seeing them excerpted or quoted elsewhere and bits that were a complete surprise: to start with, I'd had no idea there was a scene at beginning where Snow White meets the prince before she gets abandoned in the forest. That still means they fell in love over the course of a single duet, but it's a darn sight better than the usual alternative. And it's no worse than many other Disney princesses -- Aurora, for one, whose first meeting with Phillip is remarkably similar.
The littlies in the audience showed vocal appreciation throughout, with enthusiastic laughter at many of the comedy bits... and when the prince kissed Snow White, a single small voice pronounced a very decided "Ew!".
4. Thanks to a friend deciding to do a Shakespeare movie marathon, I've now seen Gregory Doran's version of Hamlet with David Tennant and Patrick Stewart. I'm not entirely sold on David Tennant as Hamlet, but the production has its good points. I particularly want to single out Penny Downie for an effective and nuanced performance as Gertrude. (Patrick Stewart is also very good, but I was kind of expecting that, since it's Patrick Stewart.)
5. In other news from the Shakespeare marathon, I still think Trevor Nunn's version of Twelfth Night is weirdly gloomy for an adaptation of a play that's supposed to be a comedy.
2. Sleeping Beauty, as I said last entry, was interesting to revisit after watching Maleficent. I can see now that some of the things I didn't like about Maleficent had their roots in the original movie, but I don't think that excuses them; what's the point of an irreverent retelling if not to fix the plot holes? And it made me even more annoyed about what Maleficent did to Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather, who by any reasonable standard are the heroes of Sleeping Beauty. On the other hand, it really stuck out at me that Aurora's mother goes through the entire film without a name; Maleficent at least got that right, even if it didn't give her any more to do. Another thing I have to acknowledge Maleficent did better was that its Aurora and Phillip looked their ages; animated Aurora looks significantly older than 16 years (not to mention demonstrating remarkable sophistication in hair and makeup for a girl who's spent all those years isolated in a forest).
Another interesting-revisiting-after aspect was seeing a bunch of ways Sleeping Beauty influenced later Disney films (and particularly Tangled; Phillip's horse is clearly a less intelligent relative of Maximus, to pick out one of the more obvious points).
3. Snow White was interesting because I've never actually seen it all the way through before, so watching it was a mixture of bits familiar from seeing them excerpted or quoted elsewhere and bits that were a complete surprise: to start with, I'd had no idea there was a scene at beginning where Snow White meets the prince before she gets abandoned in the forest. That still means they fell in love over the course of a single duet, but it's a darn sight better than the usual alternative. And it's no worse than many other Disney princesses -- Aurora, for one, whose first meeting with Phillip is remarkably similar.
The littlies in the audience showed vocal appreciation throughout, with enthusiastic laughter at many of the comedy bits... and when the prince kissed Snow White, a single small voice pronounced a very decided "Ew!".
4. Thanks to a friend deciding to do a Shakespeare movie marathon, I've now seen Gregory Doran's version of Hamlet with David Tennant and Patrick Stewart. I'm not entirely sold on David Tennant as Hamlet, but the production has its good points. I particularly want to single out Penny Downie for an effective and nuanced performance as Gertrude. (Patrick Stewart is also very good, but I was kind of expecting that, since it's Patrick Stewart.)
5. In other news from the Shakespeare marathon, I still think Trevor Nunn's version of Twelfth Night is weirdly gloomy for an adaptation of a play that's supposed to be a comedy.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2014-08-24 10:40 am (UTC)I'll have to see Maleficent when I get the chance.
no subject
Date: 2014-08-24 04:12 pm (UTC)One of the Disney songs that seems to have got weirdly forgotten after being very popular, possibly due to contravening modern female ambitions...
no subject
Date: 2014-08-25 01:28 am (UTC)In the well scene, Snow White sings a song called "I'm Wishing", which the prince overhears and comes to sing a Sigmund-Rombergy sort of thing called "One Song". Neither of those seem to have lasted the distance; at least, I don't think I've heard either of them before.
"Some Day My Prince Will Come" shows up later, after Snow White is established in the dwarfs' cottage. I'd always assumed it was a hypothetical, but in context it's pretty obvious she's thinking about the prince she met earlier.
I have heard "Some Day My Prince Will Come" before -- although now that you mention it I haven't heard it recently -- but then, I'm old enough to remember the joke about Snow White's holiday photos.
no subject
Date: 2014-08-27 01:59 pm (UTC)(That was in the days when Disney used to re-release their classics on a regular once-per-generation basis: home video seems to have killed that. The last one I remember doing the rounds of the local circuit was "The Fox and the Hound".)
I didn't remember the joke about Snow White's holiday photos, but on looking it up I do :-) I suspect that's about the same vintage as "How does Batman's mother call him to the meal-table?"