The concept and story are well known: cartoon characters are not drawings, but are living entities who work in the film industry, and when Maroon Cartoon star Roger Rabbit is accused of murdering Marvin Acme (Stubby Kaye), he turns to private detective Eddie Valiant (Bob Hoskins) for help. Trouble is, Eddie hates "Toons." After all, one of them offed his brother, and Eddie hasn't been sober since. The concept is a clever one, and the story could have gone in any...
That's what I call one seriously disturbed Toon......
One of the great joys of movie-going is to see a concept, that on-the-face-of-it is so goofy and off-beat that it should never work, but, in the end, does work and works in spades! So it was for me with Who Framed Roger Rabbit. This Vista Series DVD brings the film to us with a crisp & clean picture, THX sound, and a beautifully packaged set of extras that include a very clever interactive menu, plus loads of goodies presented smartly, with humor and surprises.
Seeing the film again reminded me how impressed I was with the audacity and accomplishment of Bob Zemeckis and his collaborators on bringing off with care and intelligence, a sharp & funny film that plays to both children & adults. Who would have thunk it?
Taking a Chinatown-like story of early Los Angeles with some basis in fact (destroying the Red Line to make way for freeways) complete with murder & intrigue & marrying it to the screwy conceit that cartoon figures, aka Toons, actually lived and worked as live actors...
An Awful DVD of an incredible movie
This is one of my favorite movies ever; there's not a moment that I don't believe that toons and humans are interacting...but this version is a censored version of the film. They cut parts without the consent of the director, and for this reason, I beg you not to buy this version. Wait until they correct the bowdlerization of this masterpiece
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"Schindler's List" chronicles Oskar Schindler's spiritual odyssey from war profiteer to humanitarian and hero. Winner of seven Academy Awards
What can I say about Othello that hasn't already been said in dozens of dissertations already? As one of the "big four" (Hamlet, Macbeth, King Lear and Othello) it has remained a benchmark for tragedies for centuries. Some people might scoff at the film's intent to make Shakespeare accessible to the lay viewer, but it truly doesn't hurt the story or interfere with Shakespeare's always delightful prose. In short, the movie outperforms any preconceived notions one might have.
The cast is wonderful. A pre-Matrix Lawrence Fishburne stars as the Moor, Irene Jakob as Desdemona, and the infallible Kenneth Branaugh as Iago, Shakespeare's most complex and calculating villain. Often in...
A passionate production
While the Orson Welles version is interesting both for its visual elements and fact that it was made over several years due to financial constraints, it does not match the passion and accessibility of the Fishburne-Branagh production.
Branagh's Iago is the soul of charming evil, while Fishburne's Othello is deeply moving as a man struggling against a jealousy that ultimately overwhelms him.
A third performance that rates special mention is that of Desdemona's maid (a fine actress whose name I do not recall). Although this character has virtually no lines for more than the first half of the film, she adds a sad, cynical counterpoint to Desdemona's romantic idealism.
Also, the production values--the setting, cinematography, and costumes--are excellent and serve the film well.
Branagh Shines
Kenneth Branagh was amazing in Henry V, playing a beloved and heroic character. He delighted as the witty, comical Benedick in Much Ado About Nothing. How could this same man play one of the most diabolical characters every written in the English language? Just look at the guy, he's a pleasant, fair-haired man.
Branagh astonished me with the ease with which he plays a duplicitous, conniving villain. Playing off his nice guy image, the audience hates him all the more when he as Iago plays the nice guy, while secretly hatching evil schemes. In the asides, where he reveals his true dark nature to the audience alone, he is positively chilling.
Mr. Fishbourne is solid, but overpowered by Branagh. Fishbourne is far more convincing than previous actors playing Othello. His commanding presence and body of violent films help us see him as a war-weary General. In fairness, Iago almost always outshines Othello as a character - - unless the character playing Othello also directs...
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For those of you who don't know what the movie is about, it is a coming of age movie about a boy who becomes a man by becoming a bear. Beyond that, it is about breaking stereotypes, and developing a respect for life. It is about dealing with anger and loss. The emotional intensity of this movie is much more similar to Lilo and Stitch or Finding Nemo, than it is to older hand animated movies such as Aladdin or The Little Mermaid. My four year old is very sensitive and had to be held at several...
Typical Disney concept, superior execution
"Brother Bear" has all the traits we are familiar with from Disney, but they are more nicely done than in some recent efforts. There is a grand sentimental theme (brotherly love), a soaring musical score, an earnest effort to incorporate another culture into the film (Inuit), an ornery lead who has something to learn (Kenai), a loveable little sidekick (Koda), and secondary characters for comic relief (Rutt and Tuke, two goofy mooses, played by Dave Thomas and Rick Moranis re-enacting their "McKenzie Brothers" routine).
Somehow it comes together better than most. The quality of the animation is excellent, the characterizations clearer, the funny bits genuinely funny (my favorite bit was the mooses' penchant for doing yoga poses). Moreover, the ending was a bit less trite than is sometimes the case.
Disney true-blue fans will definitely want to see it, but even if you usually have a low tolerance for Disney stories, give this one a look.
Disney has done it again!
We saw a special sneek preview on 10/25/03. Brother Bear is a hit. Well written story line, great music, and beautiful animation.
Make sure you stay until all the credits have run, there's one last "outtake" at the very very end of the movie. Most of the audience had walked out, and missed it.
Aloha,
The Oh Family
Honolulu, HI
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