Movie Review: Disney's Frozen

I had the pleasure of seeing Disney’s new animated film Frozen in a Drive-In movie theatre. It was a special experience, and one I won’t forget soon.

Frozen is loosely inspired by Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tale The Snow Queen. I am not familiar with this story, but my guess is that the story of Frozen is essentially an original story for the screen, and not a direct adaptation of The Snow Queen.

Elsa is a princess with special powers: she can make things frozen with her hands. But she doesn’t have full control over her powers. Her sister Anna doesn’t know about these powers, but finds herself face to face with them on the day of her engagement. Anna now goes on a journey with a new friend Kristoff to help her sister Elsa.

The main characters of Frozen.

This film was always going to get comparisons with 2010’s Tangled, Disney’s adaptation of Rapunzel. In my opinion, Frozen is a much better movie. In Tangled the presentations of the backstory felt rushed. In Frozen the introduction to the story is carefully told, not rushed at all. In fact, Frozen’s pacing is incredibly well handled. The music and animation made me feel something grand and classic was happening, right from the opening sequences.

The animation is excellent, as you would expect from a Disney animation. The music, by Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez is much better than Alan Menken’s songs for Tangled, mainly in the fact that they are more singable and memorable.

The characters are well defined and appropriately lovable. And there is some great quality humour throughout the story.

Kristoff on a mission!

A concern for me in Frozen was that the ending came upon us quite quickly. And the fact that  (spoiler ahead!) the inhabitants of Arendelle call the winter that Elsa imposes “an eternal winter” just reminds me too much of the Narnia stories. Plus, it doesn’t make sense, since they have no proof that it is eternal when it’s only been for a few days!

I loved Frozen. It feels like, with Wreck It Ralph, a number of the Pixar movies and now Frozen, that we are in a new golden age of Disney animation. I can’t wait to see more from this current generation of Disney filmmakers. I can’t wait for next year’s Big Hero 6 and The Good Dinosaur.

I gave Frozen 4 stars since it was a very enjoyable movie and I want to see it again.

By Jonathan

Movie Review - The Delivery Man starring Vince Vaughn

By Jonathan Parsons

Just the other day, I was lamenting to a friend the fact that no one in the movie business is making good natured, innocent-eyed comedies anymore. I was referring to the romcoms I was brought up on - PG-rated fare like While You Were Sleeping, Sleepless in Seattle and Runaway Bride. I feel that most comedies these days are given an MA rating (or R in the USA) for sexual references or coarse language. These factors might draw some audiences, but they turn me off for the most part. I was complaining all about this issue, and then this little movie came along.

The Delivery Man, starring Vince Vaughn (Wedding Crashers) and Cobie Smulders (TV’s How I Met Your Mother, The Avengers) has a quirky and complex premise. David Wozniak (Vaughn) is a grown man who works delivering meat for his family business. It turns out that his young adult sperm donation practice has led him - due to a clerical error - to be the biological father of 533 children. David now has the related court case looming and a girlfriend (Smulders) who is quite disappointed in him, for a variety of reasons.

This picture is from the Disney- owned brand named Touchstone Pictures and also Dreamworks Pictures. Touchstone brought to us series like Home Improvement and movies such as Sister Act and Pretty Woman. More recently, they released Dan in Real Life - a comedy which definitely fits into the warm and memorable category I described in my introduction. I feel The Delivery Man fits into this category too. I really enjoyed it. And, funnily enough for a movie labelled a comedy, it is highly funny! My friend and I were laughing in the same places - and different places too. It was just funny. I think you would like it, unless you felt you were above this type of film, you were put off by the premise, or you don’t speak English!

This film showcased a host of young adult actors who played David’s children. The acting was world class. The casting was brilliant, with many personalities and types fitting perfectly to the characters.

I can not remember much memorable music - except for the score in one comedic scene.That’s a shame - but one I can live with for such a great movie. The themes of taking responsibility, keeping your word and family love are important themes for us to explore.

I give this movie 3 ½ stars out of 5.

It is good enough to enjoy once or twice, but I won’t be buying it on DVD.

New stories ... and Mary Poppins

This is what I got for a good bargain at my local Coles Supermarket:

I have seen all these movies before, except I first saw Mary Poppins - on about five different occasions in snippets - on TV, at a friends home and so on. I think I saw Mary Poppins all the way through for the first time in 2007. I saw the stage show in Melbourne in 2012. I enjoyed it thoroughly, but I wasn't impressed with the oversized umbrella. I thought that was a bit of Disney overkill. I loved Marina Prior in that show as Mrs Banks.

On that note, have you seen the recent trailer for "Saving Mr. Banks"? Take a look. I'll post a review after I have seen it ... IN 2014! Gee, when did time start moving so fast?

Movie Reviews Behind the Scenes

Movie Reviews - Behind the Scenes

By Jonathan C. Parsons

Rise of the Guardians Movie Review

I really enjoyed this Dreamwork's Animation Christmas movie. Click on the above link to see my review over at the Light FM website.

I wrote this review very soon after I saw the movie in the cinemas. I find it much easier to write a review as soon after I see the movie as possible. For Les Miserables, below, I wrote the review almost two weeks after I saw the movie, so it wasn't as fresh in my mind.

I looked at heaps of images to find the right one for this review, and went with the official poster eventually. I am not happy that it is so small - you can't really see the faces well. That's my fault, I guess. I guess I should use the "size" filter on Google images next time.


Les Miserable Movie Review

As I said above, I wrote this review much later than I saw the film. It made it difficult to write the review, so in the future I will be writing the review straight after seeing the movie.

I likes this movie a lot, which I hope comes across in the review.

I was re-reading this online the other day and I noticed that the flow is not very good in parts of the review. It is a balance between writing for meaning, and writing so it is good writing!

Writing movie reviews for public publication is difficult, but I'm glad I do it. I'm contributing to good in the community and giving people ideas for entertainment.

Jonathan's Favourite Things: Anti-Slavery Links

I realised today that I have visited several anti-slavery or anti-trafficking websites this week. So I have put together a list of these sites:

If you are not familiar with the issue of slavery, please go to one or two of these links. This is important for everyone to be aware of.

>>

"Unslaved" article at Relevant Magazine

Picture Credit: Relevant Magazine

>>

The Anti-Slavery Quiz

Picture Credit: AntiSlavery.org

>>

The Slavery Footprint Lifestyle Test

Picture Credit:

Media Voices For Children

I would love your feedback in the comments section. Thanks for visiting my blog.

Jonathan

Jonathan's Favourite Things - E.S. Posthumus

E. S. Posthumus is a "band" - really a pair of composer brothers who create epic orchestral music. Think music from the Lord of the Rings or Pirates of the Caribbean soundtracks, but composed purely for your enjoyment. I own their album Cartogropher. The remix disc is the best and the more purer form of their work. 

Many of their songs have been licensed to be used in movie trailers, because of the escalating nature of the music. 

E.S. Posthumus on YouTube.



Picture Credit: E.S. Posthumus

Owl City - Melbourne Concert Review

Owl City – The Midsummer Station tour
The Corner Hotel Melbourne
18th November 2012
Over 18s show

 

It was with great anticipation that I headed to see Owl City live in concert. Like so many of us, my introduction to the band was through the overnight success of 2009’s Fireflies. At the time, I bought their album Ocean Eyes, but I felt like many of the songs were a bit bland and sounded quite similar to each other.

However, 2012 has been the year of happy bubble-gum pop, with Carly Rae Jepsen’s Call Me Maybe topping the charts here in Australia and elsewhere. Jepsen also teamed up with Owl City for Good Time, a simple, fast-paced pop tune about the life of a partier. It seems Owl City has found its feet in writing and production.

As soon as Adam Young – who is Owl City – stepped onto the stage, he was smiling. His physical performance which consisted of happy-go-lucky movements and fist-pumps was a cheery part of the good-natured fun. The live band did not disappoint, with the electronic accompaniment of Owl City’s albums successfully arranged for keyboard, drums, and a guitar or two.

Young sang songs from his last three albums – occasionally giving us a medley with just a taste of some of their more notable songs. He slotted in Fireflies at the halfway mark, giving the overjoyed crowd a good opportunity to sing along. This was a trend that, thankfully, continued throughout the rest of the night.

Having sung the “last song,” the band retired to chants of One More Song! This encore was obviously planned because Young had not yet sung Good Time, his most recent radio hit. The song went off –and it was very, very fun!

Owl City, to me, means innocent, wide-eyed wonder at the world around us, catchy sing-a-long hooks and a lot of joy. The crowd loved the performance, while supporting act Sinead Burgess was a little off kilter, though her genuineness and cheeky audience participation fit with Young’s. My anticipation paid off and I’m glad my expectations were exceeded.

I give this concert 4 out of 5 stars: Excellent and not to be missed.

Owl City's Official Website

Owl City's Myspace