MOVIES NOW AND THEN

This Tuesday, Disney releases Tangled, its "50th" animated feature, on Blu-ray and DVD. [I use quotes around 50th because Dinosaur (2000) wasn't considered part of the canon until two or three years ago, as far as I know.] To mark this occasion, I'll be doing a week-long retrospective on Disney's animated lineup starting on Monday. Each day will see two lists with five choices apiece. The first three days will focus on characters, the next three days will focus on songs and the seventh day will be my choices for Disney's ten best animated features. Each entry will come with a corresponding YouTube clip when available. Otherwise, I'll use screencaps from Magical Screencaps. Even though some movies will inevitably be more featured than others, I've tried as much as I can to inject variety into these lists. I hope you'll find my choices fair and stimulating. I'll leave you for now with a few samples of things I'll be saying this week (without naming anything, of course).

"His animation makes him one of the most versatile characters in all of Disney, and likely all of animation."

"First, I'd say she ties with Jasmine as Disney's most gorgeous princess."

"I consider this musical number the grandfather of all Disney villain songs."

"How can you compete with a finale of such unadulterated happiness?"

"Even against the frights in Pinocchio and the religious overtones in The Hunchback of Notre Dame, this movie stands as one of Disney's most adult features."

Best-of-the-year lists for 2010 are already passé, but my decision to go home for Christmas delayed opportunity for me to see a few movies. To speed the process, my cutoff will be seeing and reviewing The Illusionist, Winter's Bone and Blue Valentine since the first one is a movie I've looked forward to and the others are ones that will likely show up on the Oscar ballot. There are a few, like Rabbit Hole and Another Year, that I may write about if they get any substantial nominations, but I've drawn the line and will publish my list as soon as possible.

I apologize for delivering this holiday gift guide so close to the end of the season. This would have come sooner if I did not have to prepare for final exams. Nevertheless, as long as it is not yet December 25th, I can still offer movie fans some good holiday gift ideas.

This was the year in which I converted from DVDs to Blu-rays, and I have not regretted it once. The picture quality is such that you can see every cobblestone in the road, every shingle on the road and every line in person’s face. If you haven’t considered a Blu-ray player before, I’d say it’s about time to start. My model is a Panasonic DMP-BD45, which works fine despite not having Internet capability. If you want a regular player, I suggest a higher-level Panasonic unit. The best one I’ve seen, however, is Sony’s Playstation 3, which is Internet capable and loads discs at a much faster speed (not to mention Batman: Arkham Asylum is one of the best video games I’ve ever played).

To whatever number of readers I have acquired so far, I apologize for not posting anything for the last month. I have been settling back into my school life here at Fordham. Now that I have begun classes and reestablished my post at the Fordham Observer, I am going to wade back into my reviewing routine. I may not always get to post something every week due to school work, but I will continue looking for writing subjects.

In actuality, that school work may appear on this blog or influence my writing subjects. My next two major classes, American Film Comedy and Movies and the American Experience, will educate me about the patterns of filmmaking and the sociological causes and effects of cinema. Numerous films will illustrate the professors' topics, and a bountiful percentage of those movies are ones I have not seen or heard of. Since the classes began, I have seen silent classics from Chaplin and Keaton (Modern Times and Steamboat Bill, Jr.), Orson Welles's compromised classic The Magnificent Ambersons, and the lovely Depression-era drama Make Way for Tomorrow. I eagerly await the rest of the semester to see what other treasures I will examine.

I will also see new and old movies in my leisure. My school is next door to Lincoln Center (with a resident film society), and I have a low-level membership to the independent theater Film Forum. Both of these venues house limited release films as well as new prints of restored classics. Hopefully, I can catch up on perennials I have not seen yet and develop a view on international films. It may not be feasible every week due to monetary cost and homework time, but I will use what time I can spare to furthering my film education outside the classroom.

As far as specifics go, expect themed reviews of old movies. I plan to watch Psycho and/or The Exorcist when Halloween approaches, and I may take in some holiday movies throughout December. I'll review Jean Cocteau's Beauty and the Beast when the Disney version arrives on Blu-ray, I may review Tron in preparation for Tron: Legacy, and I hope to write an essay on Fantasia to celebrate the movie's anniversary and Blu-ray release. I plan to review big-name releases (Harry Potter and Tangled are locks), and I'll try to review Oscar contenders as the buzz builds.

Lastly, don't by shy if anyone has a request. I will definitely consider it and see if I can fit it into my schedule.

As my profile states, I am a student journalist at Fordham University with a penchant for film criticism. The school and local newspapers for which I have written reviews have afforded me invaluable opportunities to practice and develop my writing style. However, I still have attained relatively limited exposure, and I need another objective hand in my education. Therefore, I turn to you, fellow movie fans, to help me better understand the craft of criticism and to help me perfect my writing style.


Allow me now to explain my mission and to establish the format of this blog. Consider this my Declaration of Principles and do so with the knowledge that I will follow it far more than Charles Foster Kane did to his.