I've actually been thinking of writing a blog post or making a YouTube video defending Disney's recent remakes. But by the time I got done with it, I'd probably be so sick of them that I'd agree with the anti-remake crowd. I understand why people who, for a job or a hobby, have to see every major movie that comes out would get sick of the lack of originality. But the ones I've seen clearly had a lot of talent and thought (as well as money) go into them and I don't think it's fair to dismiss them just because they're remakes of already popular properties.

I'd much rather watch a movie that's not claiming to be original, like Aladdin (2019), than a movie that's trying to sell itself as a fresh twist on old material but is totally paint-by-numbers, like Maleficent (2014.) (I'm sorry if you feel that's one of the movies that gets an undeserved bad rap, mm1991.) The idea of retelling a famous story with the roles of hero and villain reversed had already been done to death before that movie was made and I could see every major plot point/twist on Sleeping Beauty coming from miles away. It's like they typed "a revisionist feminist but also marketable telling of Disney's Sleeping Beauty in which Maleficent is the protagonist" into a computer program and got the script.

By contrast, a movie like Aladdin doesn't claim to be original and I respect it for that in a weird way. And when it does do something different from its source material, it actually does stand out as surprising and interesting because the audience hasn't been conditioned to expect major twists.

So for no particular reason at all, I decided to watch Coco. And I thought it was... fine?

On a technical level it's pretty good, the animation, visuals, and music (the score, not the songs) are all solid. But I have mixed feelings about everything else.

The characters are serviceable and likeable, but I didn't get emotionally invested in any of them. The plot and story were vary generic, predictable, and ironically kind of forgettable. And the villain "twist" felt vary unnecessary and pointless. I don't think having a generic plot isn't inherently a negative of you do something unique with it, but I don't think this movie really did. It just does the 'protagonist has a dream that hisher family doesn't approve of, but eventually they change their minds and everything works out ' beat for beat from other movies. Though to be fair, I did think the way they conclud that arc was good.

I also thought the messaging was kind of muddled.

So, yeah. I don't think it's a terrible movie, but I wasn't really a fan of it overall.

I enjoyed Aladdin quite a bit. I'm of two minds about these Disney remakes. I think the spark that got these movies greenlit is creatively bankrupt and probably a sign of the times (i.e. Hollywood relying on safe bets because they are losing audiences to streaming services like Netflix). That said, I think they can be well done given the premise.

I really enjoyed Aladdin. I do agree that it is "unnecessary" (i.e. I don't think it gives me enough that the original Aladdin didn't give me to justify its existence), but I had a great time watching it at the theatre.

I thought the casting for Aladdin and Jasmine was great. It really felt like those characters came to life. And live action Agrabah was just a really fun environment to spend a couple of hours.

One thing I will say though... I thought casting Will Smith as the genie was a fantastic choice, but I think the character could have been executed way better. That's not to say that the genie was bad, but I think that they should have completely reinvented him to better match Will Smith's comedic style. There are moments where original dialogue is used that clearly feels like it was written for Robin Williams and it makes the character feel just like a lesser version of what we got before. But then the added scenes and dialogue were great! An example of what I mean is the "Friend Like Me" song. I think that song should have been entirely rewritten. There was an added rap section in the song that lasted for a few seconds. That should have been the entire song imo.

Would you believe the Apollo 11 DVD finally came in at the library just hours after I had been there on Saturday? I will probably have to wait until this Saturday to pick it up.

I did however get The Riot And The Dance: Earth for the N.D. Wilson fans that might be interested, will try to watch it soonest. I have seen really great things about it around the internet.

SnowAngel

The trailer for the live-action Mulan just dropped. But there are no songs and no sign of iconic secondary characters (Mushu, little bug, ancestors, etc). I'm worried the rumors are true and they really stripped this one down bare.

It's based on the historical "Ballad of Mulan" rather than the animated movie. Not pared down so much as just a different take on the same source material. I'm hoping it's in the style of traditional martial arts films. Just embrace the legend and go for those wild sword fights while flying through the air.

I watched The Riot And The Dance: Earth with my siblings and parents yesterday. Everyone enjoyed it, although most didn't care for all of the snakes. Highly recommend it. Favorite quote: "To be bored in this world is to be boring in this world."

Everyone is super excited there will be a second one about water.

Will be watching Apollo 11 next.

SnowAngel

Watched the Hallmark At Home in Mitford last night with a couple of my siblings. It was... enjoyable in a cheesy sort of way, but not a good adaptation of the book. Everything iconic about the source material, except the pets and professions of the main characters, was stripped away.

However, our heroine was able to purchase the exact set of Chronicles of Narnia that I grew up with from the (presumably new, given the staging) bookstore. And the giftee enjoyed them.

My favorite bits were the cat just sitting in the corner of the armchair, judging everyone.

Trying to get a copy of Apollo 11 before Saturday. I may have to resort to going to an old fashion movie rental store.

I would have had it yesterday except Captain Marvel came out at EXACTLY the wrong time and Netflix shipped that to me instead.
Watched CM last night, and maybe it's because I went in with really low expectations, but I liked it. Certainly WAAAY more than Wonder Woman which I did not care for at all.

I have yet to see Captain Marvel (or Endgame) for that matter.

I plan on watching Apollo 11 again sometime in the next few days. I think the part I liked best was the new hi-def video of the Saturn V launch (along with the lunar EVA, of course).

I just saw The Lion King! I loved it! Everyone else I went with enjoyed it too. There were some spots here and there that I felt could have been done better, but generally felt they did a good job. Timon and Pumba were hilarious!

Recently I watched the entire Harry Potter series for the first time. I kind of missed the whole Harry Potter hype train (terrible pun intended) when I was a kid. I never read the books or watched the movies and I honestly didn't had much interest in doing so. Then last December, I just so happened to see the first movie and about a month ago I decided to just go ahead and watch the rest of them.

Without going into excruciating detail about my thoughts on each movie, my overall opinion of the series is, it's fine. I think they range in quality from good but not great, to just okay. My favorite was either Prisoner of Azkaban or The Order of the Phoenix, my least favorite was probably The Chamber of Secrets. Having finally watched these movies, I can definitely see why they were such a pop culture phenomenon and also why so many people got so invested in this world and these characters.

That said, personally I didn't really get much out of them in that regard. I don't really find the wizarding word that interesting, and while Harry, Ron, and Hermione are for the most part likable and well written characters, I didn't get particularly invested in them. I can't help but think that I probably would have liked these a lot more if I'd seen them when I was younger and still in school.

Still, I did overall enjoyed watching these movies, and I certainly don't regret doing so.

All the positive reviews posted here about Aladdin are making me wonder if I should see it. However I have rather given up on the Disney remakes and have refused to see either it or The Lion King.

Frozen II I have seen. My sister and I went to see it yesterday and we both enjoyed it. I think the story was pretty predictable - every 'surprise' felt obvious to me, which was a shame as

There was a lot stuffed into this film and there's a lot I wanted to see more of, like the story of Anna and Elsa's parents. The only standout song is Into the Unknown; I don't think any of the others have quite the same sing-along-able quality. Kristoff's song is VERY funny but it's quite a parody. The highlights for me were Olaf retelling the story of the first film, Kristoff's song, and the gorgeous water animation. I liked it, but I think the story is a bit weak.

As we're nearing Christmas, I feel it's worth mentioning a film I worked on! This summer I was a clean up artist (someone who neatens up the animator's work) on Klaus, which is now out on Netflix. It's a Santa Claus origin story and I think it's pretty good, though of course I had a hand in making it.

Just popping in to say that I watched The Nutcracker and the Four Realms yesterday. I saw it last year and didn’t exactly like it. I’m not sure why I watched it again.

I also finally saw A Wrinkle in Time and must say that I enjoyed it. But, maybe that is because I hadn’t read the book first.

I had the opportunity to watch Klaus the other day and enjoyed it, AJ. I made sure to look for your name in the credits.