Theater Review - The Servant of Two Masters

The Servant of Two Masters

written by Carlo Goldoni (translated and adapted by Jeffrey Hatcher and Paolo Emilio Landi)

Directed by Paolo Emilio Landi

Where: Thompson Theatre at the Roselle Center for the Arts

(University of Delaware, Newark, DE)

When: Saturday, November 16, 7:30pm

Photo by Paul Cerro

The University of Delaware's Resident Ensemble Players' production of The Servant of Two Masters starts out with an image of fantastic directorial inspiration -- one that had the audience applauding right from the start...and rightfully so.  (I'll leave the specifics vague to permit future guests the same surprise I experienced.)  Combined with the wonderful scenic design of Scott Bradley and the lovely costume design by Santi Migneco, Italian director Paolo Emilio Landi has transported his audience to the beauty of 18th century Venice.  Presenting a Commedia dell'Arte theatrical form of acting, this adaptation of 18th century playwright Carlo Goldoni's work feels like a bit of a change from recent comedies performed by the REP.  With much of the cast wearing masks, we're treated to verbal puns, double entendres, improvisational moments, and slapstick humor.

However, as is typically the case in seemingly every single solitary comedy written prior to 1850, much of the comedic elements of the storyline stem from mistaken identity.  Not knowing anything about the play prior to its start (and not having an opportunity to read the playbill before the show began), my heart sank a little when I discovered this plot point.  While certainly not the fault of the REP, I took a little more for me to become invested in the rather stock story the play presents of servant Truffaldino (played by new REP member Lee Ernst) serving his two masters Beatrice Rasponi (Kathleen Pirkl Tague) and Florindo Aretusi (Mic Matarrese) without either of them knowing about the other.  This proves to be a tricky task, particularly because Beatrice is actually dressed up as her dead brother Federigo in order to try and claim a stake in his profits prior to his death.  Those stakes are dowry money which means that Beatrice has to pretend to be in love with Clarice (guest actress Erin Partin) who was set to be betrothed to Federigo.  But, since things are never easy in 18th century Italy, Clarice, assuming Federigo was dead, is now set to be married to her true love Silvio Lombardi (Michael Gotch).  What chaos!  And all of this is presented to us as if a troupe of actors arrived on the scene (which harkens back to that wonderful opening moment I alluded to above), meaning character is broken at times as the actors deal with "real life" struggles.

With all that story, you'd think that the play's 165-minute running time would've been jam packed full of plot, but this is one of those plays that feels like a good hour could've been excised and it would've made a tighter, more successful experience.  Fortunately, the second act does move by a bit quicker than the first as the loose ends come together, but as much as I like spending time with the REP, the troupe has a tendency to choose some lengthy productions (particularly in their choices of comedies).  I realize this is a silly qualm, but it seems to be one that may be worthy of a look in the future.

Having already mentioned the fantastic set and costumes, let's shift focus to the always reliable REP troupe who don't disappoint.  The star of the show this time around to this reviewer was guest actor Erin Partin who has essentially become a glorified REP member without the title over the past year having appeared in numerous productions.  Partin seems to be channeling Jean Hagen's Lina Lamont character from Singin' in the Rain complete with high pitched vocals and incessant crying spells.  She takes what is a "dumb" character and elevates the humor beyond the obvious.  Kudos, for sure.

With funny and reliable turns from REP standards like the aforementioned Tague, Matarrese, and Gotch (along with a small, but humorous role for Carine Montbertrand), The Servant of Two Masters is the "welcome party" for newest troupe member Lee Ernst.  Ernst's Truffaldino (who is probably best described as a glorified jester moreso than anything else) hardly ever leaves the stage once he makes his first appearance and in seemingly every second he's onstage he's moving.  Whether it be the constant quick patter of his feet or the nonstop twisting of his hat, I have to imagine that Ernst is a tired guy at the play's end.  His character is an endearing one and thanks to some of the play's calmer moments, Ernst gets us to connect with both Truffaldino and the actor playing him within this traveling Italian troupe.  After a tiny role in the REP's previous production this year, I look forward to seeing what else Ernst brings to the UD community in the future.

The Disney Discussion - Alice in Wonderland

Over the course of the year, we'll be spending our Wednesdays with Walt, having a discussion about each of Disney's animated films...

Movie #13 of The Disney Discussion

Alice in Wonderland (1951)

Featuring the voice talents of Kathryn Beaumont, Ed Wynn, Jerry Colonna, Richard Haydn, Sterling Holloway, Verna Felton, J. Pat O'Malley, and Bill Thompson

Directed by Clyde Geronomi, Wilfred Jackson, and Hamilton Luske; Ben Sharpsteen (production supervisor)
***This film is currently streaming on Netflix***

Summary (in 150 words or less):

When a young girl named Alice becomes bored while practicing her school lessons, she follows a frantic White Rabbit down a rabbit hole to the crazy world of Wonderland where she meets a nutty cast of characters who, through their absurdity and weirdness, make her realize her life wasn't as bad as it seemed.

Let the Discussion Begin...

Alice in Wonderland is the Walt Disney Company's thirteenth full-length animated feature film and was released on July 26, 1951.

With a budget of $3 million, Alice in Wonderland's $2.4 million take was considered a disappointment and the critics greeted the film with lukewarm reviews.  However, as the 1960s and 1970s arrived, the film garnered a newfound appreciation amongst the "drug culture" in college towns and Disney gave the film its first theatrical rerelease in 1974.

Alice in Wonderland was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Scoring of a Musical Film, but failed to win.

The Characters

(The Best...The Worst...The Villains...)

With the lack of a really strong story, Alice in Wonderland can take pride in the fact that its entire zany cast of characters is skillfully animated and perfectly voiced.  In the past, Disney had filmed live actors performing particular scenes for his animators to study to make movements as real as possible.  With the production of this film, a full-length live action film was shot featuring many of the actors who provided the characters' voices which is part of the reason the film took over five years to create.

Our title character continues the trend of having a little bit of a spunky personality like the title character in Cinderella, but admittedly here it sometimes comes off as childish obstinance, although I think that's the point in that they're showing her precociously adventurous spirit.  Still, voiced incredibly charmingly by Kathryn Beaumont, Alice is the one sane element amidst a bunch of loonies and her calmness is sometimes a welcome respite from the chaos that surrounds her.

Directing animator Ward Kimball (one of Disney's famous Nine Old Men who helped shape the face of Disney animation in its early stages) stated that he feels that the film "degenerated into a loud-mouthed vaudeville show...with each [animator] trying to top the other guy and make his sequences the biggest and craziest in the show.  This had a self-cancelling effect on the final product."  This is certainly true and while characters such as The Mad Hatter, the Caterpillar, the Cheshire Cat, and Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum are all amusing and expertly animated, their personalities are all trying to vie for the audience's affection much moreso than in other Disney films.  Once again, the animation techniques on display are top notch as is the vocal talent behind the characters (particularly Ed Wynn's hilarious well-known take on the Mad Hatter), but there's no depth to anyone which is a bit of a shame.

The villain of the piece -- the Queen of Hearts -- is actually the last main character that Alice meets, not making an appearance until an hour into the seventy-five minute film.  Bombastic with a strong personality, the Queen is quite funny despite a seemingly one-joke presence revolving around chopping off people's heads.  

The Music

Music plays a key role in Alice in Wonderland.  I'm not sure five minutes go by without another tune popping up as seemingly every character Alice meets has his own tune to accompany his segment of the film.  I say this not as a detriment to the film.  In fact, while you won't necessarily be humming every tune upon the film's completion, I found them all amusing in their own ways.  From the incredible simplicity of something like the Caterpillar's "A E I O U" which is essentially just a repetition of a bunch of vowels in a Ravi Shankar-ish Indian tone or the sheer nonsense of a throwaway like "The Caucus Race" which is a string of prepositions, there's something fun going on with the music of Alice in Wonderland.

One of my favorite songs in the mix is "In a World of My Own" (written by Bob Hilliard and Sammy Fain) -- the first one we hear in the film following the title song during the credits.  Sung by Alice in a calm and mannered tone, she daydreams about being whisked away from the mundane upper crust British world she calls home and venturing into a land where "cats and rabbits would reside in fancy little houses" and "all the flowers would have extra special powers."  Foreshadowing what is to come for her, the scene was beautifully animated and had me promisingly looking forward to things (which is why it's all the more unfortunate I was a bit disappointed).

My Favorite Scene

Building off of the music section, my two favorite scenes contain two great songs.  Certainly the most amusing moment in the film is the famous moment when Alice stumbles upon the Mad Hatter and March Hare's tea party during which they celebrate their unbirthdays.  With Ed Wynn and Jerry Colonna's fantastic vocals, "The Unbirthday Song" is a rousing number (and probably the most famous in the film) that integrates perfectly into the scene surrounding it.  In a zany film like this, you'd assume laughs would come rapidly, but that really isn't the case.  However, I was smiling from ear to ear when these kooky guys took center stage.  Although I've already lauded him, it really can't be mentioned enough how much Ed Wynn contributes to this scene with his take on the Mad Hatter.  It's an iconic performance that holds up many decades later.

On the other end of the spectrum,  my second favorite moment in the film occurs when a very small Alice wanders into a bed of flowers and encounters some of the most delightful creatures Disney animators created for the film.  As the towering flowers chat with their new human friend (whom they later determine to be a weed in an attempt to get rid of her), they sing the almost lullaby-esque "On a Golden Afternoon" which introduces us to bread-and-butterflies, rocking horseflies, dog and cat-erpillars, and literal recreations of "tiger" lilies to name a few.  Perhaps these creatures were found in Lewis Carroll's book, but the animators' abilities to cleverly bring them to life were a treat.

Random Thoughts

• Lewis Carroll's name is misspelled in the opening credits as "Lewis Carrol."
• Verna Felton moved from the lovely and kind Fairy Godmother in Cinderella to the nasty Queen of Hearts in Alice in Wonderland in back-to-back Disney animated films.

Final Analysis

(Does It Belong in the Revered Disney Pantheon and How Does It Stack Up to Past Films?)

While the Alice in Wonderland story never really appealed to me as a child, I was hoping a change of heart may have taken place as I added on a few years allowing me to appreciate Disney's take on this supposedly classic children's tale.  Unfortunately, that didn't pan out.  While certainly better than the Johnny Depp-starring version of a few years ago, the surreal episodic nature of Lewis Carroll's story just doesn't work for me.  In the Disney Discussion for Pinocchio, I commented on that tale's episodic nature, but it's nothing compared to Alice in Wonderland which moves incredibly rapidly from Alice's meetings with one character to the next only to essentially never hear or see these characters again for the remainder of the film.  As a matter of fact, Alice in Wonderland almost feels like Disney's reverting back to the "package films" of the war era.  

Admittedly, I truly adored the animation here with each character given his or her own unique animated style and mannerism.  Top notch vocal talent elevates every scene as well and, thus far, I think Alice in Wonderland is the best showcase for how the right voices can improve scenes, characters, and even an entire movie.  Honestly, it's in the animation and vocals where Alice in Wonderland excels and on Blu-Ray the colors pop beautifully off the screen.

Unfortunately, the story just doesn't work for me and for that reason Alice in Wonderland doesn't quite land in my version of the revered pantheon of Disney films.  That said, I wouldn't put up a fight if anyone felt it belonged there -- it has its merits, but they're not quite enough to tip it over the edge for me.

The RyMickey Rating: C+

I'm going to take a little breather next week with the Thanksgiving holiday.  I've also got a bunch of current movie reviews to catch up on.  So, join me two Wednesdays from now for Peter Pan, the fourteenth film in The Disney Discussion.

Movie Review - Frances Ha

Frances Ha (2013)

Starring Greta Gerwig, Mickey Sumner, Michael Zegen, Adam Driver, and Charlotte D'Amboise

Directed by Noah Baumbach

***This film is currently streaming on Netflix***

Reviewers are certainly telling me I should like Frances Ha, a black-and-white modern-day female-focused New York City-set Annie Hall-ish (or Manhattan-ish) take on our title character, a dancer struggling to make ends meet who lackadaisically sits around and talks about absolutely nothing that matters to her obnoxiously arrogant and self-important friends.  As you can likely tell by the tone of that run-on sentence, I'm not going to be fawning over Frances Ha.  Despite attempts by Greta Gerwig -- who co-wrote this film with director Noah Baumbach -- to charm the audience, I ultimately felt annoyed by her character's self-absorbtion...and I think that's the opposite reaction they were attempting to achieve.

Ultimately, Frances Ha has no story and what little story it does have isn't all that interesting because we don't really give a damn about anyone in it.  Admittedly, I summed the proceedings up in my initial sentence.  Frances is a dancer who's barely making ends meet and moves from friend's apartment to friend's apartment while she tries to get her life in order.  It's all well and good, but her friends aren't all that interesting and their conversations are even more boring.

Ugh.  Greta Gerwig tries and she has moments where she's captivating, but I can't help but think she's not an actress I'm going to enjoy.  This is movie #6 of hers that I've watched and I've yet to rank any of them as any better than average.  Frances Ha won't be the one to break that lackluster streak.

The RyMickey Rating:  C-

Movie Review - The Call

The Call (2013)

Starring Halle Berry, Abigail Breslin, Morris Chestnut, Michael Eklund, Roma Maffia, and Michael Imperioli

Directed by Brad Anderson

I'm wary to even post this review saying that the Halle Berry-starring The Call is actually decent simply because I know full well that it's a piece of schlock cinema produced by the WWE (that's World Wrestling Entertainment...you know, the same people that bring you fake wrestling on tv).  It's exploitative and, at times, a bit uncomfortable to watch in its ceaselessly violent children-in-peril nature, but it moves along at such a rapid pace that it doesn't overstay its welcome and ends up being a perfectly acceptable B-movie which is all it ever wanted to be in the first place.

Oscar winner Halle Berry is Jordan Turner, a 911 operator who takes a call one evening from a teenage girl whose home is being invaded.  After a series of unfortunate events, the girl is kidnapped and later turns up dead.  With Jordan's actions playing a part in the devastating event, she recuses herself from taking any further calls and begins a job teaching new recruits at the call center.  One day, however, a call is received from another young girl named Casey (Abigail Breslin) who has also just been kidnapped and stuffed into the trunk of her attacker's car.  Casey, armed with a cell phone, dials 911 and ends up speaking with Jordan.  Desperate to seek redemption for her earlier actions, Jordan finds herself doing all she can to help Casey escape.

Ultimately, the story is simple and could easily have been made into a tv movie on Lifetime.  Perhaps that's where it belongs as well, but considering this is now out of theaters and available to view at home, I can't deny that I had a fun time with it.  Had I shelled out $10 bucks I may have been disappointed, but as a rental, it's better than it really deserves to be thanks in large part to director Brad Anderson's quick pace and nice turns from Berry and Breslin.  Yes, it's moderately trashy, but I don't think there was ever any pretense about this being high class stuff.  It entertained me, kept me interested in the story, and I'm not sure I could've asked for more from something like this.

The RyMickey Rating:  B-

Movie Review - The Host

The Host (2013)

Starring Saoirse Ronan, Diane Kruger, Max Irons, Boyd Holbrook, Chandler Canterbury, Frances Fisher, and William Hurt

Directed by Andrew Niccol

***This film is currently streaming on Netflix***

After the hell that was the Twilight series -- five movies equaling over ten hours of my life that I'll never get back -- I have no idea why I subjected myself to The Host, a sci-fi flicked based on a novel by Twilight author Stephenie Meyer.  I think the only reason is that I had some faith that Andrew Niccol -- writer of the fantastic The Truman Show -- was scripting and lensing the piece and I hoped beyond hope that he'd bring something beyond a teen romance to this piece.  Well, I couldn't have been more mistaken.

Instead of vampires and werewolves, we're subjected to a race of aliens who have taken over Earth.  Parasitically, they've invaded human bodies taking on the appearance of us, but are identifiable because of a silver ring that appears around the eye.  At the start of the film, human Melanie Stryder (Saoirse Ronan) has been captured by a seeker (Diane Kruger) and implanted with an alien life form.  However, Melanie is a strong one and she refuses to have her psyche leave her body.  As the alien sets out on a mission to find other humans to take over, Melanie is constantly yammering and pleading (in an awful Southern accented voiceover) to stop their invasion and find peace with the human race.  There's an awful love triangle that ensues when the alien inside Melanie finds Melanie's younger brother, uncle, and boyfriend -- all of whom have trouble dealing with the fact that the person in front of them looks like Melanie but isn't her at all.

Ugh...to be honest, I'm having trouble writing this one simply because I don't give a damn.  The constantly painful voiceover of human Melanie inside of the now alien Melanie makes this story nearly unfilmable.  Not that it would've been good on paper, but at least in text you can "believe" it a little more.  Here, there's really nothing unique or redeeming about this concept whatsoever.  Seriously, don't make the same mistake I did.

The RyMickey Rating:  D-

Movie Review - Gravity

Gravity (2013)

***viewed in 3D***

Starring Sandra Bullock and George Clooney

Directed by Alfonso Cuarón

Now that my mouth has been relieved of the parched feeling I had from holding my breath for ninety minutes, it's time to hunker down and discuss what may very well be the best science fiction film I've ever seen.  I must say, though, that tagging Gravity with the nomenclature of "science fiction" feels slightly inaccurate to me.  This is a "science reality" film in the sense that every aspect of it could happen right now as I type this.  There are no man-eating aliens or spaceships "light-speeding" through the galaxy or ominous Death Star vehicles roaming the atmosphere above Earth in Alfonso Cuarón's brilliantly directed film.  Instead, a seemingly innocent NASA mission to fix an issue with the Hubble telescope turns horribly wrong when a Russian satellite is hit by a missile, gets shattered to pieces, and sends chunks of debris rapidly hurtling towards spacewalking astronauts Ryan Stone (Sandra Bullock) and Matt Kowalski (George Clooney) along with the rest of the crew aboard the spaceship.  Not only does the debris create havoc, but it also halts all transmissions from the astronauts to Mission Control.  Broken off from the rest of mankind, not everyone survives and those that do have any incredibly tough road ahead to try and find a way home.

Moreso than anyone else, Gravity lives and breathes on the vision of Alfonso Cuarón.  As director, Cuarón gives the vastness and openness of space a more claustrophobic feeling than I've ever seen before on film.  With stunning cinematography by Emmanuel Lubezski, Cuarón's camera is constantly spinning, moving around the landscape smoothly and rapidly which, coupled with some exquisite long takes (including an astonishing opening shot that lasts for well over ten minutes) and more than adequate use of 3D, creates a palpable tension that kept me precariously hanging on the edge of my seat the entire ride.  As a co-writer (along with his son), Cuarón eschews the spiritual tone that I somewhat expected to see here and instead focuses his film on the fight to overcome seemingly impossible obstacles both physical and emotional in nature.  We're hit in the gut with overarching theme of man (and in this case woman) versus nature and I must credit the Cuaróns with keeping things simple while still managing to create a nonstop feeling of unease for the audience.

Along for the ride is Sandra Bullock who carries the movie on her shoulders and does so with believability.  A scientist on her first space mission, Ryan Stone has certainly not adjusted to the gravity (pun not intended) of the scope of her work.  As the film begins and she's fixing an electronics panel on the Hubble telescope, you can hear the nervous tension in her voice despite attempts to appear strong to her colleagues.  We know -- just because of the basics of storytelling -- that she'll overcome this jittery anxiousness, but we're never assured she'll escape the hell that space has become for her.  Bullock brings her character's desperate longing for companionship, courage, and will to survive front and center in what is probably the best work I've seen from her.

In this technologically savvy age, one of the greatest compliments I can give a movie is if I never look at my phone once to see how much time is left.  Gravity receives this (perhaps ignominious) distinction.  This is an eighty-five minute roller coaster ride from start to finish and I never longed for it to end.  I can only hope that the unbridled success of this unique vision brings us more smart, expertly acted, and exquisitely directed films in the future.

The RyMickey Rating:  A

The Disney Discussion - Cinderella

Over the course of the year, we'll be spending our Wednesdays with Walt, having a discussion about each of Disney's animated films...

Movie #12 of The Disney Discussion

Cinderella (1950)

Featuring the voice talents of Ilene Woods, Eleanor Audley, Luis Van Rooten, Jimmy MacDonald, William Phipps, Lucille Bliss, Rhoda Williams, and Verna Felton

Directed by Clyde Geronimi, Hamilton Luske, and Wilfred Jackson; Ben Sharpsteen (production supervisor)

Summary (in 150 words or less):

The beautiful Cinderella has constantly been at the beck and call of her stepmother Lady Tremaine and her two stepsisters Anastasia and Drizella ever since her father died when she was a child.  She cooks, cleans, and never has time for herself.  When the king sends out an announcement across the land that all the single ladies (if you start humming Beyoncé now, I apologize) attend a ball in order to be introduced to his son, Prince Charming, Cinderella can't wait to go.  However, her stepmother and stepsisters do all they can to prevent her from attending and they nearly succeed, too, until Cinderella's Fairy Godmother comes along to help our title character be the belle of the ball.

Let the Discussion Begin...

Cinderella is the Walt Disney Company's twelfth full-length animated feature and was released on February 15, 1950.

After the financial difficulties of the 1940s, Cinderella was Walt Disney's return to full-length animated feature films following a series of "package films" that showcased a variety of short animated subjects.  Admittedly, Cinderella was a little bit of a gamble and had the three million dollar production failed, it could have signaled the end of the Walt Disney Studios.  However, the film was greeted with enthusiasm and proved to be very successful which allowed Walt to take on more ambitious projects as well as venture into the new medium of television.  In its first release, Cinderella raked in over $4 million in its initial release -- one of the highest-grossing films of the year -- signaling that the public was clamoring for this type of classic storytelling

Cinderella was nominated for three Academy Awards -- Best Sound, Best Score, and Best Song for "Bibbidi Bobbidi Boo" -- but did not walk away with any prizes.  The film was also ranked #9 on the American Film Institute's Top Ten animated features of all time.

The Characters

(The Best...The Worst...The Villains...)

First, let's just revel in the fact that we're finally back to telling a full-length story after seven years of animated short packages masquerading as a movie.  It's just a treat to finally be past that phase of the Walt Disney Company's oeuvre.  But, even with that in mind, I had to hope that my first visit to Cinderella in well over a decade (and probably closer to a score, in Lincoln's terms) would prove to be a treat.  Fortunately, I wasn't disappointed.

The similarities between the title characters in Cinderella and Disney's first film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs are uncanny.  Yes, Cinderella's hair has been turned a yellowish red, but the two leading ladies were built from the same cloth.  With Disney desperate for this film to be a success, I completely understand going back to the tried and true characteristics that made his first princess tale a winner.  Like Snow White, Cinderella's father has died and she's now under the watch of her stepmother who, while not mixing up deadly potions or talking to a mirror, is a nasty lady.  Cinderella's life is composed of cooking, cleaning, and every other daily chore imaginable.  When we first meet her, Cinderella is singing to a group of mice and birds -- her only friends -- about her dreams and aspirations.  Does that remind you of our introduction to Snow White at a wishing well singing to some feathered friends about her dreams of meeting a prince?  

Despite all these similarities, Cinderella is a more well-rounded character than Snow White, a character whom I thought more than capable of carrying a story, but was rather bland when compared to the rest of that film's cast.  I think part of the reason for the improvement is because the animation has improved greatly since Walt's first attempt at creating a princess.  Cinderella's movements and facial expressions are much better than that of Snow White.  Additionally, the script also allows Cinderella to have a little bit of an edge in that there are hints of sarcasm when things don't go her way.  SPOILER -- She's also given a fantastic last line of the film in which she reveals that she has the matching glass slipper -- it's a deliciously sly "screw you" to her stepmother and stepsisters.  This only proves to endear her to the audience even more because she's the one that succeeds in trumping their evil as opposed Snow White in which the title character essentially dies and is saved by a prince.  END SPOILER

For every protagonist, though, we need an antagonist and Lady Tremaine is a good one.  As I mentioned, there are no evil spells or black magic being utilized here, but the sharp, biting tones of a woman who recognizes that Cinderella's beauty far surpasses that of her own daughters' and will do whatever is necessary to make sure her offspring fare better than her now deceased husband's.  With her rude and childish brethren Anastasia and Drizella by her side, the trio provide humor with their wickedness, but also create a more realistic sense of evil than we saw in Snow White.  (Not that Snow White's portrayal of a villain is bad...in fact, it's more enjoyable in its gothic horror nature than this.)

With a prince that mutters maybe a sentence throughout the movie, the remainder of the characters are presented purely for giggles and they succeed in that department for the most part, although they're given too much screen time for my liking.  Cinderella's Fairy Godmother makes the most of her one scene and her bubbly, though bumbling, personality is a hoot.  I almost wish she had more scenes with which to entertain us, however, she then may have fallen into the trap of Cinderella's mice friends Gus and Jaq and their sworn enemy Lucifer the cat.  This trio of characters, while humorous and nicely animated, are given much too much emphasis.  With the exception of a key scene (involving an actual key) during the film's climax, the threesome are simply there for comedic effect in an attempt to stretch the film out to a more expected feature length.  While certainly amusing, it's much too obvious that these folks are here for padding as opposed to providing any form of character development.

The Music

The music of Cinderella is the first to come from songwriters of Tin Pan Alley and it was the first film to have its songs published and released by the Walt Disney Company -- another added source of revenue for Disney.  Containing six songs, I must say that although there isn't really a bad one in the bunch, I find them lacking the emotional oomph I desired, perhaps in part due to the fact that the story of Cinderella itself is so simplistic at its core.  However, and to the score's benefit, every song fits its scene perfectly.  From the opening "A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes" which sets the scene for Cinderella's aspirations to "So This Is Love" which details her dreams coming true, the title character's songs showcase her desire to move out of her life of servitude.  Add in two fun ditties -- "The Work Song" in which Cinderella's mice friends ready her dress for the ball and "Bibbidi Bobbidi Boo" where the Fairy Godmother works her magic on the title character -- and there are certainly some memorable pieces here.  While I think "A Dream Is A Wish..." and "Bibbidi..." have certainly stood the test of time, songwriters Mack David, Jerry Livingston, and Al Hoffman didn't craft truly inspiring numbers to me.  There's a slight genericness to the proceedings that aren't bad, but aren't incredibly creative either.

My Favorite Scene

The film's final moments are quite fun and surprisingly exciting.  With Anastasia and Drizella failing to fit into the glass slipper, the king's Grand Duke is about to leave Lady Tremaine's house.  Cinderella, who was heretofore locked in her room by her stepmother manages to escape thanks to the help of Gus and Jaq and she quickly rushes down the stairs to try on the shoe that she knows will fit.  Lady Tremaine is of course irritated by this and as the Grand Duke begins to walk towards Cinderella with the glass slipper, she trips him causing the slipper to break into hundreds of pieces.  As the Grand Duke starts to cry and Lady Tremaine evilly smirks, Cinderella says not to worry and she pulls out the other glass slipper from her pocket.  It's a "middle finger moment" that brought a smile to my face because it so simply topples the bitchiness of Cinderella's stepsisters and stepmother. 

Random Thoughts

• The film starts out with the opening of a storybook again!  It made me quite happy that we were returning to the Land of Fairytales for some reason after such a long time away.
• I had no memory at all that the film opens with our title character as a child.  Granted, it's only for the first thirty seconds, but I had no recollection.
• Walt definitely harkens back to Snow White in the film's first song with the title character singing to her animal friends who help get her dressed and pretty up her room.
• As much as I enjoy Jaq and Gus, the extended scene of them trying to snag breakfast out from under the watchful eye of Lucifer the cat, goes on for much too long considering it has absolutely no bearing on any aspect of the plot whatsoever.
• This is the second Disney movie in a row that features a shattered pumpkin!

Final Analysis

(Does It Belong in the Revered Disney Pantheon and How Does It Stack Up to Past Films?)

Cinderella was never my favorite growing up (it may have something to do with the fact that I have a 'Y' chromosome), but upon this viewing of the popular Disney film, I'd certainly have to grant it admission into the revered Disney Pantheon.  While its story is actually a bit weaker than its similarly themed predecessor Snow White, its title character is given a bit more spunk and personality which picks up some of the slack.  (That being said, why the hell didn't Cinderella just walk out of the house? It's not like her stepmother had her shackled in the attic.)

The animation in Cinderella is fine -- with Cinderella herself a bit more detailed than Snow White -- but Walt wasn't reinventing the wheel here.  The backgrounds are basic and lack intricacy although, admittedly, they're grandiosely gothic when we're in Cinderella's home which added to the idea that our title character is being trapped by her stepmother.  Still, I couldn't help but think that many of the scenes appeared as if they were being "filmed" on a "soundstage."  By that, I simply mean that there's an unrealistic simplicity to many scenes.

I think the biggest flaw in Cinderella comes from the intense focus on Gus and Jaq's tete-a-tetes with Lucifer.  Although I didn't time it, it feels as if half of the movie deals with these characters' battles with one another.  While certainly appealing to children, these scenes harm the overall impact of the story.

Still, despite its simplistic story, Cinderella is a welcome return to form for Disney.

The RyMickey Rating: B

Join us next Wednesday for Alice in Wonderland, the thirteenth film in The Disney Discussion.

Movie Review - Somebody Up There Likes Me

Somebody Up There Likes Me (2013)

Starring Nick Offerman, Keith Poulson, Jess Wexler, Stephanie Hunt, and Megan Mullally 

Directed by Bob Byington

***This film is currently streaming on Netflix***

Somebody Up There Likes Me is a weird one.  There is an offbeat deadpan aesthetic to this that will either win you over or bore you to pieces from the get go.  I was willing to accept that comedic tone, but the dry humor wore thin about halfway through and it turned into an almost interminable affair.  Still, I found the first 35 minutes of this rather short film quite humorous as we meet Max (Keith Poulson) who, in one of the film's opening scenes, walks in on his estranged wife sleeping with another man.  He confides in his good friend Sal (Nick Offerman) who tells him he's better off without a woman considering the malaise he's felt ever since he got married several years ago.  At this point, the film then begins to time travel into the future in roughly five-year increments, following the lives of Max and Sal and their relationships with women, with each other, and with their business.

Even with the time jumping, the characters never age and this clever and unique method of telling a story is somewhat captivating...at least initially.  However, as time progresses (in both the story and the film itself), the absurd and somewhat surreal style along with its aloof tone wears thin.  I always find myself enjoying Nick Offerman's dry humor and that's certainly the case here.  Keith Poulson is also engaging enough as a lead despite the fact that he's purposefully one-notish, but its his character's inherent nonchalance and the film's same "attitude" that disappoints after time.

The RyMickey Rating:  C-

Movie Review - Enough Said

Enough Said (2013)

Starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus, James Gandolfini, Catherine Keener, Toni Collette, Ben Falcone, Tracey Faraway, and Tavi Gevinson

Directed by Nicole Holofcener

Movies like Enough Said don't get made nearly enough nowadays.  I mean, honestly, when's the last time you've seen a romantic comedy focusing on normal folks in their late forties/early fifties falling in love?  It doesn't happen and maybe it should.  Writer-director Nicole Holofcener gives us two characters who are wholly relatable with whom, after a short ninety minutes, we long to spend more time.  What more can you ask for from a movie like this?  The characters make or break a movie like this and in Enough Said I wanted to continue alongside their charming journey to see where it will take them.

Eva (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) is a masseuse who enjoys her job and loves her teenage daughter Ellen (Tracey Faraway), but finds herself missing that special someone after her divorce a few years prior.  Still, she's come to terms with the fact that love probably isn't in the cards for her.  When she accompanies her good friends (Toni Collette and Ben Falcone) to a party, she meets Albert (James Gandolfini), but doesn't find him attractive in the slightest, even telling him that to his face.  However, she decides to agree to a first date with Albert simply because she hasn't been on a date in quite some time.  While things don't go swimmingly between Albert and Eva, there's something there...that little indescribable spark.  They have much in common and, with both their daughters heading off to college in a few short months, they're in need of some companionship.

One of the biggest reasons Enough Said succeeds is because there's an awkwardness between Eva and Albert that Holofcener isn't afraid to dwell upon.  Things aren't precociously perfect or devastatingly awful between the couple as we often get in movies and choosing the middle ground and not one of the two extremes is a nice change of pace.  Julia Louis-Dreyfuss and the late James Gandolfini are huge keys to the film's success, utterly charming whether they're alone or together onscreen.  Gandolfini is the complete opposite of Tony Soprano here, abandoning any sense of that "tough guy" persona for which he's so well known and fully embodying the softy that is Albert.  Louis-Dreyfruss, heretofore known for her somewhat abrasively comedic roles on tv, takes on her first leading film role and has no problem whatsoever getting the audience to embrace her.  She's not a perfect mom and doesn't claim to be, but that makes her character all the more relatable.  Louis-Dreyfuss carries the movie without a problem and I'd love to see this down-home persona in more movies down the line.

There are moments in Enough Said that feel a little bit sitcommy -- particularly in scenes involving Eva's client Marianne (Catherine Keener) who just so happens to be Albert's ex-wife unbeknown to Eva who constantly has to hear Marianne spout off everything that was wrong with her former spouse -- but they're still funny and work overall in the grand scheme of things.  Kudos to director and writer Nicole Holofcener (who also directed Please Give which I enjoyed a few years ago) who has crafted a movie that both you and your parents and your grandparents can enjoy without being too cutesy for you or too raunchy for your grandma.

Lovely.  Charming.  Go see it.  Enough said.

The RyMickey Rating:  A-

Movie Review - The Counselor

The Counselor (2013)

Starring Michael Fassbender, Javier Bardem, Brad Pitt, Cameron Diaz, and Penelope Cruz

Directed by Ridley Scott

Although reviews for The Counselor were mostly negative, the positive notices it received were intriguing enough to have me check this out before Ridley Scott's film made a quick escape from theaters.  With a cast that certainly adds some good pedigree to the adult drama, I was hoping that maybe author Cormac McCarthy's screenplay (his first) would be reminiscent of the solid No Country for Old Men and The Road -- two films based on his novels.  Unfortunately, that wasn't the case and the fault mostly falls on McCarthy himself as he seemingly finds it difficult to create dialog that sounds genuine and authentic which causes much of the movie's scenes to feel forced and contrived.

For a film that's basis is double-crossing and drug dealing, The Counselor is surprisingly simplistic and that's not necessarily a bad thing.  Sometimes adult-driven thrillers feel that there's a need to pile on twist after twist and it's almost a welcome change that this flick takes a quieter route.  The Counselor opens with much of the background plot work already having taken place.  We meet the title character (whose name is never provided to us) played by Michael Fassbender, a lawyer in the southern US who, in need of some quick cash, agrees to assist in a massive drug trade with the help of a rich guy named Reiner (Javier Bardem).  Things quickly start to turn for the worse with the Counselor fearing for his own life as well as that of his wife (Penelope Cruz).

Although not original, the story itself works, however, as we discover within the first ten minutes of the film, the type of dialog or scenes that work in a book don't always translate to a movie and Mr. McCarthy seems to have trouble with this concept.  McCarthy absolutely has an ear for slick verbiage, but it seems more suited to the page, coming off as stilted and uncomfortable when spoken.  It's unfortunate because there are flashes of brilliance at times when it comes to what is being said and how McCarthy intriguingly spins words, but I couldn't help but think as I was watching the film that people never speak like this to one another and that makes things feel fake.

For the most part, the actors do their best with the dialog and try to make things work.  Michael Fassbender continues to impress and is truly becoming an actor that will draw me to his movies.  Javier Bardem also does a nice job of playing Reiner, a smarmy guy with both an edge and a heart of gold and I enjoyed his interactions with Fassbender in particular.  However, Cameron Diaz as Reiner's girlfriend nearly ruins the goodwill created by these actors.  She, in particular, is completely unable to wrap her lips around the tricky dialog she's forced to spout and she decides to simply enunciate everything as clearly as possible -- perhaps as a character choice or perhaps to pretend she actually understands what she's saying.  Rather than exude sexiness -- which her character is clearly supposed to do -- she comes off laughable.

While it's clear The Counselor doesn't work, I'm happy I watched it.  I wouldn't recommend it, but it's an interesting failure.  Director Ridley Scott has created a slick adult thriller filled with violence and sex -- there's a scene with Cameron Diaz on the hood of a car that I likely soon won't forget -- but it never comes together.  The film looks fantastic (kudos to cinematographer Dariusz Wolski), but it can't overcome McCarthy's clunky tale which I'd love to read as a novel, but would rather not have seen on a movie screen.

The RyMickey Rating: D+

Movie Review - Maniac

Maniac (2013)

Starring Elijah Wood and Nora Arnezeder

Directed by Franck Khalfoun

***This film is currently streaming on Netflix***

The "ick factor" runs high through Maniac, a horror flick that tells its whole story through the eyes of its titular killer.  While Elijah Wood is billed as the star and his voice is heard throughout, his time onscreen is minimal seen only reflected in mirrors or windows.  Director Franck Khalfoun creates a voyeuristic approach by filming everything from the point of view of Wood's Frank Zito, a mannequin restorer by day and a cold blooded, psychopathic, and very disturbed serial killer by night.  This directorial and visual technique never allows the viewer a respite from the disturbing images we encounter and I think this how that aforementioned "ick factor" finds itself a bit higher here than in other films of this ilk. 

Ultimately, the film succeeds at what I can only imagine was its desire to place us squarely in the mind of a serial killer.  By making us tangentially "feel" as if we're skinning the head of one of Frank's victims, it provides a unique and uncomfortable twist on the typical horror movie plot.  However, the film doesn't succeed at feeling like anything more than an interesting experiment from a college film class.  The acting on all fronts is lukewarm at best and Wood's voiceovers oftentimes feel out of place and added during post-production (which they probably were, but it makes many scenes seem forced and fake).  Couple that with the fact that Frank's motives behind the killings felt tired and are presented much better in the similarly themed Psycho -- a movie that you may have heard me praise once or twice on this blog -- and the movie ends up falling flat.

The RyMickey Rating:  C-

The Disney Discussion - The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad

Over the course of the year, we'll be spending our Wednesdays with Walt, having a discussion about each of Disney's animated films...

Movie #11 of The Disney Discussion

The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad (1949)

Featuring the voice talents of Bing Crosby and Basil Rathbone

Directed by Jack Kinney, Clyde Geronimi, and James Algar; Ben Sharpsteen (production supervisor)
***The Wind in the Willows portion of this film is streaming on Netflix***

Summary (in 150 words or less):

Two classic stories for the price of one!  First, we head to England and meet up with J. Thaddeus Toad, an eccentric amphibian who becomes obsessed with owning a newfangled gas-powered automobile.  Worried for his safety, his friends Ratty, Moley, and Angus McBadger try and protect him to less than ideal results.  Next, we head to the United States where we encounter Ichabod Crane, a new schoolteacher in Sleepy Hollow, a small New England town.  Crane falls for the lovely Katrina van Tassel, but Katrina is also being wooed by Brom Bones, a "man's man" who isn't too keen on his territory being encroached upon by Crane.  Knowing that Crane is wildly superstitious, Brom tells a story of the Headless Horseman who hunts down men to steal their noggins, sending Crane into a scared frenzy.

Let the Discussion Begin...

The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad is the Walt Disney Company's eleventh full-length animated feature film and was released on October 5, 1949.

This is the last "package film" to be released by the Walt Disney Company as future projects (with the exception of Fantasia 2000 [and The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh in a way]) all told a cohesive singular story.  With World War II over and his animators back in house, Disney shifted his focus back to telling an actual full-length story.

The company originally intended for both segments of this film to be feature length.  Production of The Wind in the Willows began in the early 1940s (pre-WWII), but Disney decided that the animation wasn't up to his standards for a feature length film (which I don't agree with in the slightest).  With the war putting a dent into his budgets for feature length films, he decided to shorten The Wind in the Willows and include it in a package film.  As for The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, it was determined early on that there wasn't enough story to create a full length film.

The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad was nominated and won the Golden Globe for Best Color Cinematography in 1950.

The Characters

(The Best...The Worst...The Villains...)

Much of the success of The Wind in the Willows segment of The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad comes from the characterization of the beloved amphibian himself.  J. Thaddeus Toad is a bit of an obsessive compulsive in that he finds himself fawning over the latest fad, allowing his obsession to fester until he can get his hands on whatever it is he wants.  In our story, it's a gas guzzling car -- a new invention the likes of which he's never seen before.  The crazed and seemingly delusional bouts of constant giddiness (even when he's being put on trial) stand in stark contrast to the proper and somewhat stodgy English folk that surround him in the short.  While the other characters may blend together into the stereotypical "English bloke," Toad stands out and does so with much vigor.  You can't help but find yourself smiling whenever he's onscreen.

This isn't to say that characters like Ratty, Moley, and Angus McBadger are dull weights, but they certainly are attempting to be the voices of reasons amidst the chaotic ramblings of Toad.  Still, the trio of Toad's friends are given the opportunity to really amp up their energy in the short's manic finale which is reminiscent of a Three Stooges/Marx Brothers bit of madcap mayhem.  

The characters in The Legend of Sleepy Hollow are not quite as rambunctiously fun as those in The Wind in the Willows, but Ichabod Crane is certainly a well-rounded character.  When we're first introduced to Crane, his nose is in a book, a seemingly appropriate place for the pointy schnoz of a schoolteacher.  We stereotypically think that based on his skinny appearance and profession that Crane is going to be shy and lacking charisma, but the opposite is true.  The ladies fawn over him and Crane takes advantage of that, stuffing his lanky frame with all the food provided him by these various amours.  

Crane's superstitious nature is shown to the audience in an early scene, but doesn't rear its ugly head again until the end when the town ladies' man (until Crane's arrival) Brom Bones takes advantage of this fault of Crane's by touting the story of the Headless Horseman.  Brom is quite jealous over the fact that Crane had successfully wooed the prettiest gal in town -- Katrina -- for himself and will stop at nothing to win her back.

Rather surprisingly, the villain of the piece doesn't make his arrival until the short's final minutes.  My six year-old self remembered this scary guy taking on a much more prominent role than he actually does.

It is certainly fitting to discuss the two narrators of these tales as well, particularly Bing Crosby's take on The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.  While Basil Rathbone lends a certain aire of prestige and properness to the proceedings in The Wind in the Willows, Crosby's jaunty tones are easygoing.  Right from the beginning when Bing refers to Crane as "Old Icky," we know we're essentially getting Bing's take on this beloved Washington Irving tale.  Not only does he narrate, but he voices Ichabod and Brom and sings a tune or two.  While I don't dislike the manner in which Crosby presents things here, I can understand how some might find it poking fun at the source material, or, at the very least, taking it lighter than it should be.  Then again, this is an animated film, so we shouldn't go into this expecting a Tim Burton-esque take on things.

The Music

While you won't necessarily be humming any of the songs from either segment of the film, the musical pieces that are present are fitting.  The Wind in the Willows segment only features one tune -- a ditty called "Merrily on Our Way" (by some of Snow White's collaborators) -- but it's a perfect fit in that it's somewhat manic and all over the map in terms of lyrics.  This, of course, is quite befitting of Mr. Toad who sings it while galloping down the road in his horse and buggy.  It is, in fact, our first glimpse of Toad and it sets the stage for his character completely.

And could you really expect a short narrated by Bing Crosby to not feature a song or two?  I've always been a fan of Bing's easygoing style and sound (I always imagine him warbling "boo-boo-boo-boo-boo") and he doesn't disappoint.  

My Favorite Scene

Although I do enjoy the finale of The Wind in the Willows, Toad's instantaneous "motor-mania" when he first lays eyes on a gas-powered car starts the short off on a perfect note, setting the stage for one of the most underrated characters in the Disney pantheon.

Random Thoughts

• As soon as The Wind in the Willows segment started, I immediately started to miss Mr. Toad's Wild Ride in Walt Disney World that was taken away in 1998.
• There is something slightly odd about the mix of humans and talking animals co-existing in the world created by the animators here.  (Admittedly, I'm not familiar with the books, so maybe this is culled from them.)
• Bing's jaunty voice makes me smile.

Final Analysis

(Does It Belong in the Revered Disney Pantheon and How Does It Stack Up to Past Films?)

The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad is a very nice way to end the "package film era" of Disney's animated output.  It's certainly and undoubtedly the best of this era.  I went into this expecting to like The Legend of Sleepy Hollow better, but I ended up being fully entranced by the frivolity and manic nature of The Wind in the Willows.  Clocking in at 68 minutes, both shorts hit just the right notes in their short running time, never overstaying their welcome.  The animation in both tales is decent -- although not quite up to the caliber of "feature length" films, but we'll be heading back to that quality quite soon.

Admittedly, Sleepy Hollow was a bit of a letdown as I remembered this one from my childhood and was eagerly looking forward to seeing it again.  It's not as if the short is bad by any means, but I was surprised by the lack of tension created leading up to the infamous ending which my inner childhood self remembered as (a) taking up a lot more of the run time and (b) being much scarier and foreboding.  Still, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow has its moments, is humorously narrated by Bing Crosby (whose jaunty voice may be the reason the tension never came to fruition), and is, overall, a solid short film.

The Wind in the Willows with its oftentimes cacophonous tone was a real treat.  With a main character in Toad who is surprisingly well-rounded despite seemingly having only the characteristic of "crazy" placed upon him, I was instantly enamored with the story.  So far in this Disney Discussion, The Wind in the Willows is the biggest surprise to me and it's certainly welcome after the dullness of some of the package films that came before it.

Honestly, this is a "forgotten" Disney film.  No one really thinks of its existence when you talk about Disney animation.  That's a bit of a shame as I found it utterly amusing (particularly during its first half).  As I mentioned above, the character of Mr. Toad is utterly charming and unique amongst his Disney brethren.  

As an added note, The Wind in the Willows is available to stream instantly on Netflix.  Unfortunately, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow is not at this time.

The RyMickey Rating: B

Join us next Wednesday for Cinderella, the twelfth film in The Disney Discussion.