Month: December 2024

Hey buddy, spare a quarter?

It’s amazing (and a little scary), to think that the brand shiny new 21st century is already at the quarter mark. How did we already go through so many years in such a short period of time? They’re so bloody moreish, aren’t they?

Personally and professionally, 2024 was a quiet-before-the-storm kinda year. I’ve been working on several projects that will (some definitely and some hopefully) all burst on the scene in 2025 which, if we’re honest, sounds more like a proper important kind of year for that kind of thing anyway.

After a quiet year I will have not one, but two books hitting shelves and rest assured, I will be spamming about both of them merrily when the time comes.

Oh, and talking about new projects, Spouse of Mouse, myself and our friend Esther (mostly Esther) have started a new podcast called Now That’s What I call Nostalgia where we talk about the cartoon shows of our youth and discuss what drugs were most likely involved in their creation. First two episodes should be live now and you can listen to them HERE (if nothing happens the first two episodes were not, in fact, live now).

Here on the blog in 2024 I reviewed 1 Canon Disney movie, 2 MCU movies, 1 animé, 1 live action movie, 9 non-Disney canon animated features, 1 Bats versus Bolts, 4 Batman movies and one short film.

The standard of movies I reviewed this year was a huge improvement on 2023’s, not least because the MCU and Disney canon’s output have slowed to a greasy trickle as they to figure out just what’s gone wrong. But, like any bout of explosive diarrhoea, just because the first deluge has passed doesn’t mean it’s safe to get off the pot yet. I look at the horizon, with the MCU stunt-casting left and right and Disney bringing their early nineties cheap cash in sequel strategy into the sacred halls of the canon itself….let’s just say I don’t think the worst is behind us just yet. That said, it’s not like we deserve better.

$140 million opening. This is why we can’t have nice things.

So, with MCU and Disney reviews slowing to a crawl, that meant I got to focus on Batman reviews and the odder and more obscure articles in my backlog. And, I’m happy to say, I discovered (and re-discovered) some real gems. Best movie this year was…I mean, that’s hardly fair, is it?

I was very gratified at how many of you said you enjoyed my review of The Third Man and I think, yeah, a little culture around here wouldn’t kill us. I’m going to try and review some more classics.

Despite the overall uptick in quality, Worst Movie was actually the more fiercely competitive category as I did review some pretty egregious stinkers: Land Before Time XIII, Wish, The Marvels and Cool World.

But there was only one movie that I actively loathed and think you all know what it is. Dawn of Justice.

Lastly, I want to introduce a new category; Most Pleasant Surprise. These were the movies that I went in to knowing little and expecting less and came out with a new personal favourite. Honourable runner up is Joseph: King of Dreams, the scrappy little direct-to-video sequel that nonetheless set up shop in my head. Some bangers in the soundtrack too. But there was one movie that I was initially cool on but where my opinion of it grew and grew even after I watched it and reviewed it. So if you read my review of Your Name and felt that it was a little unenthusiastic, you’re right. So, let me set the record straight I adore this film.

Fantastic movie. Heart breaking. Yes, Makoto Shinkai fans. I get what you meant now.

Oh, and while I didn’t review it on the blog I may as well leave you with a recommendation.

I loved it as a thriller. I loved it as a character study. I loved it as a work of cinematic art. I loved it as a Catholic. Best new film I’ve seen all year. Whatever you think it is about it’ll probably surprise you. And I will definitely have to review it just so I can talk to someone about the ending.

Anyway, hope you and yours have a safe, wonderful and happy Christmas and new year.

Nollaig shona daoibh go léir,

Mouse.

The Third Man (1949)

I don’t honestly know if I should feel sorry for Joseph Cotten or envy him. He had a long and storied career in theatre and film, appearing in several movies that are the mainstay of any respectable list of greatest films of all time. How could you pity any actor whose CV includes The Third Man, The Magnificent Ambersons and of course the big gorilla in the room, Kane?

At the same time, when you think of those movies Cotten’s name isn’t exactly the first one that comes to mind, is it? Of course not.

It certainly doesn’t appear that Cotten resented the fact that Orson Welles was essentially the star around which Cotten’s career orbited, as the two men maintained a close and warm friendship right up until Welles’ death in 1985. And it’s not like he was completely overlooked, either. In fact, it’s so common to say that Joseph Cotten was one of the most underrated stars of Hollywood’s Golden Age that he probably no longer even qualifies as underrated. But screw it, it’s my blog, and if I want to turn it into a Joseph Cotten appreciation corner who of you will stop me? That’s what I thought. We’ve Gotten Cotten Fever up in here!

Oh, fun fact. His hair was the model for Norman Osborn in Spider-Man. Orson Welles can’t say that, can he?

(more…)

Joseph: The King of Dreams (2000)

1998’s Prince of Egypt is what you might call a hard act to follow and the first thing any discussion of Joseph: The King of Dreams should stress is that it is neither fair nor productive to compare the two. But I’d argue there is actually a lot to learn from putting the two movies side by side.

I’ve always believed that, when it comes to animation at least, “cheap” is not the same as “bad”. Obviously, a generous budget is rarely a detriment but plenty of animators have put out stunning work on a shoe-string. And plenty of movies had absolutely scads of money thrown at them and still managed to look like something that the cat puked up on the rug. What makes the Dreamworks Torah Cinematic Universe so instructive is that it’s two movies created at the same time by largely the same team of artists, just with very different budgets. King of Dreams was, like Return of Jafar, intended to be a straight to video sequel (or prequel in this case) of a much bigger, much more-high budget theatrical release. But, Aladdin was done by Disney Feature Animation and Return of Jafar was palmed off to Disney’s TV animation studios in Australia and Japan. By contrast, King of Dreams was animated concurrently with Prince with Egypt, and by the same team of animators. This makes the two movies a fascinating case study, showing how much a budget matters in determining quality and also how much it doesn’t.

Because yeah, I’m not going to sit here and tell you that the two movies are equally beautiful. Clearly they’re not.

And yes, the wonderfully detailed, semi-realistic style of human animation that Prince uses is absolute murder for the King of Dreams team trying to render it with less time and resources and it does sometimes end up looking a little janky. But honestly, more times it doesn’t. My point is, I honestly love this film for how hard it tries and frequently succeeds in escaping the creative ghetto. This is a straight to video cartoon sequel. Hell, this is a faith-based straight to video cartoon sequel. The fact that it’s not absolutely terrible is an achievement. The fact that it’s good, often touching great, is a genuine miracle.

(more…)