Frozen: a quick review

Disney has proven that they need no longer need Pixar to produce a solid computer animated film with their delivery of "Frozen."  It is just another Disney take on an old folk tale (Hans Christian's Anderson's "The Snow Queen"), so what makes it so good?  The answer in three parts: 1) Great comical musical lyrics from the Avenue Q's Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez 2) Its modernism in that it abandons the concept the princesses needed to be rescued by a man 3) Most importantly, the vocal talents of Kristen Bell and Idina Menzel.  My wife and I enjoyed the flic and have been recommending to everyone.

I do have two minor complaints about it though.  First, from the first scene through the first half or so, there are plenty of musical numbers, but there are no musical numbers at the end or associated with the climax of the story.  Where's the consistency?  I'm sure they'll fix this when they take the movie to Broadway, which they will. 

The second is that well, isn't anyone else bothered by how strikingly similar Frozen is to the Broadway show, "Wicked"?  Both have the same major elements.  Both have two strong lead female characters, one is loved by everyone, the other an outcast because she's different.  In both, the outcasts are rejected by society, but the outcasts respond by embracing who they are.  This is shown in both, when the outcast sings what is the defining song of the story, "Defying Gravity" in Wicked and "Let It Go" in Frozen.  I don't think it's a coincidence that in both Wicked and Frozen that marquee piece is originally sung by the same gifted actress, Miss Menzel.  Few have the talent to deliver such an exclamation point like she can.  In both, the male characters are secondary to the main story. 

So what do you think?  

Catching Fire!

So I caught the newest volume of the Hunger Games series (Catching Fire) with my pops over Thanksgiving break.  This one did not disappoint.

First, let me say that this movie may be one of the most accurate adaptations of a book I've ever seen.  It was dead on and I was quite pleased.  There were extras of course because the books are told from Katniss Everdeen's (the protagonist played by the darling Jennifer Lawrence) perspective (it's all in first person) so whatever else that was going could not always been described in the book.  I thought the additions were fitting. 

The casting of new characters were also spot on, particularly with newcomers to the series Jena Malone and Sam Claflin (pictured above on the left and right) playing new tributes in the way I pictured they should, as well as, Jeffrey Wright playing a convincing brainiac and Philip Seymour Hoffman nailing the producer of the games.  Is he good?  Is he bad?  It's hard to tell.  Of course, readers of the books know.

Everything got better as a whole compared to the first Hunger games movie.  My only complaint is that I have wait to see the two part conclusion of the series.  Two parts?  From one book?  Ugh.  Greedy bastards. 

Exit Through the Gift Shop

You may tell from the background on my blog that I'm a fan of graffiti art.  Ok, let me rephrase, I'm a fan of "poppy" art and graffiti often falls in that category.  I in no way am in support of breaking the law or damaging public property for the sake of art, but I have become a fan of some particular "street" artists, who do both those things, Banksy and Shepard Fairy to name a few.  (Yeah, that's why I have so many Obey t-shirts)  Recently, I checked out the documentary Exit Through the Gift Shop that basically highlights for the first time on film (as far as I can tell) these street artists and what and how they do the art they do.  It's really interesting!  To be honest, after seeing the film, I was a little inspired to make some art of my own, but I'll stick to written media for the sake of not getting arrested.  I recommend this doc for anyone interested in this new art form that is starting to get accepted in some of the more metropolitan areas of the world.  Below is a video of some of the bits and pieces of the film from its producers: