December 30, 2019
jmunney
Cinema, Movie Reviews
Alan Tudyk, Alred Molina, Chris Buck, Ciarán Hinds, Evan Rachel Wood, Frozen, Frozen 2, Frozen II, Idina Menzel, Jason Ritter, Jennifer Lee, Jeremy Sisto, Jonathan Groff, Josh Gad, Kristen Bell, Martha Plimpton, Rachel Matthews, Sterling K. Brown
CREDIT: Disney
In Frozen II, Elsa hears a mysterious voice calling out to her from the forest. There’s some gee-gaw mystical explanation by the end about what that’s all about, but its ultimate purpose seems to be making her realize that she ought to be living on her own out in the forest. It’s hard not to read queer subtext into that, if you’re at all open to the possibility that there could be queer subtext in an animated Disney movie. So that’s how that goes, and meanwhile, there’s plenty more going on elsewhere, as Elsa and Anna stumble across some soldiers who have been fighting each other for decades while also trying to understand the important messages their parents have left for them. Plus, Kristoff attempts to propose to Anna while she keeps misinterpreting him in maddeningly over-the-top fashion, Olaf keeps telling us that water remembers, when ALL OF A SUDDEN, I’m so overwhelmed that I’m now doing a Phil Donahue impression (or at least an impression of Darrell Hammond’s Donahue impression). Arendelle is a busy place. Sometimes it’s exhausting.
I give Frozen II One Million Voices out of a Million and a Half Water Memories.
November 25, 2018
jmunney
Cinema, Movie Reviews
Alan Tudyk, Alfred Molina, Bill Hader, Disney Princesses, Ed O’Neill, Gal Gadot, Jack McBrayer, Jane Lynch, John C. Reilly, Phil Johnston, Ralph Breaks the Internet, Rich Moore, Sarah Silverman, Taraji P. Henson, Wreck-It Ralph
CREDIT: Disney
Ralph Breaks the Internet presents a remarkably satisfying and accurate (such as it is) cinematic version of the Internet (minus all the porn, of course). It’s filled to the brim with buzzy avatars representing pushy autofill, distracting suggested ads, and the like. There are also scores of little blue birds tweeting a bunch of nonsense (there should probably be even more of those). If the references look like they will be instantly dated, look again, and see that it is actually an ouroboros/phoenix of eternal present and unceasing nostalgia constantly eating itself and being reborn. The story zips along weightily with the technical dangers of a connected world grounded metaphorically in the emotional lives of Ralph and Vanellope. And the much-hyped inclusion of all the Disney Princesses is more significant than expected, with the ladies proving to be narratively essential as they also remain thematically true to themselves. All in all, as much as constant connectivity has transformed society (often for the worse), Ralph Breaks the Internet demonstrates that there is still room for friendship.
I give Ralph Breaks the Internet 23,000 Hearts out of 27272 Viruses.
