Maleficent: Mistress of Evil

As Disney continues to churn out remakes of their classic animated films, they are returning to the one that started it all with “Maleficent: Mistress of Evil,” now in theaters. The reimagined tale continues years after the first and has … Continue reading Maleficent: Mistress of Evil

Alice Through the Looking Glass

Disney’s latest live action fairy tale is “Alice Through the Looking Glass,” the sequel to 2010’s “Alice in Wonderland.” However, the return to Underland is unfortunately heavy with CGI and light on emotion for viewers. The film, like the book it is based on, follows Alice some time after her first round of adventures in “Underland.” Here she is a sea-captain striving for her “six impossible things before breakfast.” But when she returns to land, she is confronted with the inevitability of growing up and taking responsibility. Saved by the bell,or rather the sound of Alan Rickman’s last performance to … Continue reading Alice Through the Looking Glass

The Jungle Book

I’ll be honest. I don’t fully remember watching the Disney animated “The Jungle Book” as a kid. Sure, I’m sure that I watched it a few times as most of us do, but beyond the “Bare Necessities” I really don’t recall much about it. So going into Jon Favreau’s 2016 live-action remake of the tale, I had a fairly clean slate. Immediately, you are confronted with the unmistakable reality that the CGI animals in this movie are AMAZING. We first see the wolf cubs and Bagheera(Sir Ben Kingsley) as they train with Mowgli(Neel Sethi) in the ways of the jungle. … Continue reading The Jungle Book

The Finest Hours

Starring Chris Pine, Disney sought to make a splash in the January film graveyard with “The Finest Hours,” a story based on the real life Coast Guard rescue noted for being the largest small-boat rescue in history, on a history making day when two T2 oil tankers, The Fort Mercer and the Pendleton split in half. Make a splash it did, but not quite as large as they were hoping. The 1952 events surrounding the rescue of the Pendleton tanker are fraught with danger and heroism, but the the added romance subplot drags the film down faster than the water … Continue reading The Finest Hours

John Carter

Based on the century old “Barsoom” series by Edgar Rice Burroughs, “John Carter” is Disney’s first entry into the 2012 blockbuster season. The book series inspired the Star Wars films and James Cameron’s “Avatar,” and many others in the science fiction genre.

John Carter’s film debut finds him a late entry in the sci fi genre he inspired.

The movie follows Capt. John Carter, who has been mining for gold in the Arizona mountains. After he is transported to Barsoom, which is the alien race’s name for Mars, he becomes embroiled in a centuries old war between the races of that planet. Continue reading “John Carter”