Chance's Corner: Ralph Breaks the Internet Review

Lo and behold, I only had to wait six years for a sequel to Disney’s Wreck-It-Ralph instead of fourteen years, which is how long I waited for Disney/Pixar’s Incredibles II! Years aside, Ralph Breaks the Internet is the sequel we've been needing, but not the sequel we deserved. Let's face it, while Wreck-It-Ralph is rated fairly well, no one really talks about it. So, when it was teased that we were getting a sequel, I was surprised, elated and concerned. I was concerned because the Internet is such a huge environment to explore, and it houses too many competing brands that would want their own slice of the pie. Then I found out Disney was also interjecting themselves into the mix (creating a sort of paradox) with their website Oh My Disney. This easily could have been an absolute mess... could have.

While the brand exposure is certainly overwhelming as our bumbling video game hero Ralph (John C. Reilly) and his best friend Vanellope (Sarah Silverman) enter the Internet for the very first time, Ralph Breaks the Internet keeps itself under control, while still having fun, of course. Nothing feels like an unnecessary sidetrack, even when Vanellope makes the tad self-indulgent visit to the Oh My Disney site. Have no fear, the scene(s) featuring all of the original Disney princesses (with original voice actresses!) is well worth seeing, and there's more to their meeting with Vanellope than what's shown in the trailer. I won't say much, but prepare for a riotous song and dance number! Just like in the original film, the third act hits hard and fast, which left me in a highly emotional state. The film’s overall message about friendship and the directions it can go is hard to hear but important.

Overall, Ralph Breaks the Internet is fun for kids and adults alike, and proves to be one of Disney's most successful and original sequels. Please make sure to watch the credits all the way to the end, otherwise you'll miss seeing the much anticipated Frozen 2 teaser trailer! *wink*

Julie's Journal : What I've Been Reading

As usual, I have been reading quite a bit this fall.  I generally have been reaching for comfortable, escapist reads.  The news has been generally depressing this year, so I want happiness and fun in my reading. 

I'm still working on reading the J.D. Robb In Death series, which are futuristic murder mysteries.  While there's nothing profound about J.D. Robb/Nora Robert's writing, I enjoy her way of developing a story and characters.  She's a formulaic author, but I enjoy her formula, so I don't mind.  I'm also slowly working my way through Jan Karon's Mitford series.  The Mitford books are about a small town in North Carolina, its aging pastor, and the many dramas of the townspeople.  There's no huge excitement, no major events, but the stories are sweet and wholesome and uplifting.  I've finished the first four and have the fifth checked out to read soon. 

I also recently read "Upstairs at the White House" by J.B. West after my mother recommended it.  I  enjoyed this non-fiction account of Mr. West's career as the chief usher at the White House.  He worked mainly with First Ladies and coordinated the domestic side of life in the White House.  He was in charge of the day-to-day operations and well as big events, such as state dinners, weddings, and funerals.  His insider look at the personal lives of the presidential families he served was fascinating.  He served from the time of Franklin D. Roosevelt through Richard Nixon.  This is an older book, published in 1973, but I was able to borrow it for my Kindle.  If you can get a hold of a copy, I highly recommend it.

As far as more recent books, I find that I have been disappointed as often as I have enjoyed a new book.  I read "The Witch Elm," which has had rave reviews, but I found the main character, Toby, whiny and unlikable.  Nicholas Sparks is usually a sure bet, but his newest book, "Every Breath" was a disappointment for me.  I didn't find the whirlwind love story at the beginning of the book believable, so I was never invested in how the rest of the story turned out.  I looked forward to Kate Morton's "The Clockmaker's Daughter" as I have enjoyed all her previous books, but this time the story didn't work for me.  I felt like there were too many story lines, and as soon as I started getting a feeling for one character the point of view changed and I was lost again.  I didn't feel like Ms. Morton brought all the story lines to a satisfying end and the ending was very abrupt.

I have read a few new things I've liked.  Australian author, Liane Moriarty's new book "Nine Perfect Strangers" was different.  Nine people from different walks of life all sign up for a ten day retreat at a remote resort.  At first it seems okay.  There's at least one custom smoothie every day, a full service spa, meditation, and exercise.  The only thing unusual is that the first five days are spent in silence.  About halfway through the book, the story took a turn I wasn't expecting.  As a result, the tranquil atmosphere of the retreat is shattered and the attendees deal with the fallout in different ways.

"Look Alive Twenty-Five" is Janet Evanovich's next installment in her Stephanie Plum series.  Stephanie is a somewhat bumbling bounty hunter and with the help of her two love interests, she eventually, usually, gets her man.  Her sidekick Lula adds a comedic flare.  Quick and fun and light, I recommend Stephanie and Lula for any time you need a laugh!

I saw lots of advertising for Delia Owens' "Where the Crawdads Sing".  Sometimes I'm a little leery of books that are heavily hyped, but I enjoyed this one.  Kya is a young girl who falls through the cracks of her family and child services and ends up living in the swamp of North Carolina alone at about 10 years old.  She becomes something of a legend in the nearby town and the boys torment her by daring one another to approach her.  This game eventually leads to tragedy.  Very intelligent, Kya is taught to read by a boy she meets in the swamp.  She eventually becomes  a respected naturalist.  She remains reclusive and strange her whole life, never really fitting into society, but does eventually find love and a sense of family.  I found the story thought provoking.

I've also just started John Grisham's new book, "The Reckoning".  Have you read it?  What did you think?    

Chance's Corner: Noirvember

It's that time of the year again! No, it's not Christmas, although the Hallmark Channel insists it is. It's Noirvember! Noirvember is a month, designated by the film community, that celebrates the genre of films known as film noir. By definition, film noir is a style of film that is marked by a mood of pessimism, fatalism, and menace, and they are usually shot in an expressionistic black and white style. Films that are generally considered to be film noir were made between 1944-1954, but several noirs have been made after that period, and they are generally known as neo-noir. I've been celebrating this month (I actually celebrate all year) by watching a few of my favorites, and here is one of them:

Ride the Pink Horse (1947)

Lucky Gagin (Robert Montgomery) rides into San Pablo, New Mexico with a mean look on his mug. He walks into a bus stop, past a neon-tinged welcome sign, and puts a slip of paper in a locker. He takes the locker key and then buys himself a stick of gum to chew. It seemingly means nothing, until Gagin spits the gum into his hand, wraps it around the key, and then sticks the key behind a large map in the bus terminal. We're only a few minutes in, but the mystery has already been laid out without a single word being said or a shot being fired. It only gets better from here.

Ride the Pink Horse is the second film noir directed by auteur director Robert Montgomery. His first was the highly experimental Lady in the Lake, based on Raymond Chandler's bestselling novel, which was shot entirely in a point of view style. That technique made the film come off a little stiff, but I appreciate what Montgomery was trying to achieve. This time, Montgomery sticks with more conventional camera techniques, but he still pushes the boundaries of what a film noir can be. For instance, Ride the Pink Horse ditches the film noir staple of being set in some grimy urban sprawl, and instead sets its focus on the dusty streets of the American West, which has been described as a post-war phenomenon.

What I really like about Ride the Pink Horse is that it's not clean cut. Gagin ain't so lucky, and his morals are a little dubious. You're not sure what direction he'll go in, but thankfully he has the enigmatic Pila (Wanda Hendrix), the loyal Pancho (Thomas Gomez) and the "flag waving" Retz (Art Smith) to help him escape the clutches of a scheming femme fatale (Andrea King) and her deaf crime boss beau (Fred Clark). Yes, the film itself may be a little dubious, too, seeing that Wanda Hendrix is playing a Mexican girl that Gagin likes to call Sitting Bull, but Gagin grows out of that as he comes to respect her. They're friendship is really touching, and I was left a little misty eyed at the end. And let's not forget that Thomas Gomez's performance lead him to be the first Hispanic-American to be nominated for an Academy Award, so that kind of makes up for the minor indiscretions!

If you ever run across Ride the Pink Horse, I definitely recommend that you check it out, but if you can't get your hands on it, here are a few other film noirs I would suggest watching to celebrate Noirvember.

 

 

Chance's Corner: The Other Side of the Wind Review

It’s been 40 years since Orson Welles filmed The Other Side of the Wind, and now, 40 years later, and 33 years since Orson Welles passed away, it has finally been edited and released through the combined efforts of director/actor/historian Peter Bogdanovich (among others) and Netflix. I can’t emphasize just how important that is. Okay, maybe I can - this is film history!

The Other Side of the Wind mainly serves as a director's lament on the passing of Old Hollywood, and a satire of the radical, sometimes vapid, ideas to come out of New Hollywood (post-1967). Shot in a guerrilla mockumentary style, in high-contrast color and black and white, Wind is perhaps Orson Welles' most personal and biting work, with Jake Hannaford (John Huston), a creature of the Old trying to fit in with the New, being a thinly-veiled interpretation of Welles and his own doubts and desires. In the film, Hannaford is an aging director, surrounded by an entourage of has-beens, who has a bold idea for an experimental comeback film, something that’ll really get his career going again, if only he can get the financing for it (life imitating art, it seems!). Wind picks up at the end of this attempt, and at the end of Hannaford’s life, showing his final hours on the eve of his birthday, which is being celebrated at a ranch house in the desert.

Interspersed between the alcohol-fueled birthday celebration, we get to see parts of the comeback film – the real The Other Side of the Wind – as Hannaford shows some of the completed footage to ravenous, almost contemptuous, reporters. In contrast with Hannaford’s last hours, this film is controlled and kaleidoscopic. Sensical? No. As a would-be investor puts it, Hannaford seems to be just making the film up as he goes. Maybe so, but in reality, Welles seems to be parodying Michelangelo Antonioni's Zabriskie Point, a key film in the counterculture/New Hollywood movement. While it is a parody, the film within a film showcases some incredibly inventive work from Welles (no surprise there), and he conjures up some of the most striking visuals to be seen in decades, and this was made in the '70s! That's Welles, for you, always getting the last laugh.

I'm very interested to see just how the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will handle this, as the direction, performances, editing and cinematography are all hard to ignore. If it is awarded anything, the award will most likely be posthumous, as most, if not all, of the heavy hitters in the film are long gone, excluding Bogdanocivh, of course!

If you’re interested in seeing this film, you can watch it now on Netflix.