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Christopher Robin (2018)
Oh bother!
When I tend to talk to people about the film Christopher Robin, one continuous common praise seems to come up: "The 100 Acre Wood characters were so adorable!" and apparently that's enough to override any problems this movie has. I can understand to a degree where people are coming from with that, after all I loved the animated Winnie The Pooh film from 2011 because it made an incredible use of its ensemble cast and made them funny, delightful and incredibly entertaining. But here's the thing. In that movie, they were the focus of the film and it worked for that movie. But this movie is called "Christopher Robin," not "Winnie The Pooh". The main character is Christopher Robin, not Pooh. Therefore I'm judging this film as a film about Christopher Robin, not Pooh and his friends being adorable in the Hundred Acre Woods.
In this movie's defense, the animated characters ARE incredibly charming. The scenes that revolve around them work to a degree, even the CG faded takes on these guys have a bit of visual appeal. They are all reasonably in-character. But with that said, that's where the positives about Christopher Robin end. Even the animated characters get stale at times, there's one scene where Tigger - attempting to prove that he IS in fact a tigger to Christopher's young daughter who you won't care about because she's just a plot device - sings his Wonderful Thing About Tiggers song. They don't just incorporate it into the dialogue or anything creative, they just bring the movie to a halt for Tigger to sing his whole song. In the theater, I was thinking to myself that this is Star Wars-level pandering.
As for the live-action parts of the film, I just can't get into this. Ewan McGregor tried and he makes a passable straight man to his animated co-stars but it never really feels 100%. The storyline seems to be two separate halves, the first half revolving around Christopher rediscovering his friends feels right but it only goes on for so long. The second half of this movie makes it really fall apart, when Pooh, Piglet, Tigger and Eeyore come into the real world to give Christopher papers he left behind in the Hundred Acre Wood leading to wacky hijinks that doesn't really go with the semi-serious tone the first half of the film had. It almost felt like they ran out of plot to keep it movie length and decided to use the animated characters more just to squeeze another 45 minutes out.
Overall, Christopher Robin is really not a strong film and I don't buy the whole "Pooh is in it, therefore it's great" argument because, well, Pooh's not the main character. If you are going to see this movie JUST to see Pooh and his friends, you'll like it fine. If you're looking for an actual good movie, I recommend the aforementioned 2011 Winnie The Pooh or 2017's live-action drama Goodbye Christopher Robin, which focuses on the actual AA Milne and his family but has a much better, more-focused, less-studio mandated storyline. This may be honey, but if you look around the beehive enough, you'll find better honey than an overly cliched unfocused film that wants you to think the title character is not where your attention should be.
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (2001)
Overrated piece of garbage
Harry Potter is just another fad, like Pokemon and Livestrong bands, that refuses to go away. I attempted to read the first book of this painful saga and got bored out of my mind, then my friend dragged me to see this piece of crap. I had known that it ran 152 minutes and I would be bored out of my mind, but I didn't want to disappoint him. Aside from the brilliant "Monsters, Inc." trailer made just for this movie, I nearly fell asleep! Who in their right mind pays $10 just to see some British kids to run around a castle for 3 hours? WB is killing off Looney Tunes for this?!?! How could the creator of the characters in "Gremlins" (a very good movie compared to this) and the director of "Mrs. Doubtfire" (another very good movie) pull this piece of crap? My 2 cents: save your money and rent the two I brought up above or support saving the Looney Tunes characters by watching some of their superior work compared to this.
The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland (1999)
Then 2nd Sesame Street Film Isn't So Great
In 1996, the Tickle-Me-Elmo doll was released and it was an immediate success. This resulted into Elmomania that swept the nation. A TV special, a 20-minute segment on "Sesame Street", many appearances on "The Rosie O'Donnel Show" and a movie.
This film does have some good aspects however. There are some very funny bits with Ernie and Bert every 15 or minutes to help settle down intense or sad scenes for the children. These are the lead-in to some very funny jokes:
ERNIE: No movie has a sad ending, Bert.
BERT: Titanic.
ERNIE: Hmmm?
BERT: Titanic had a sad ending.
ERNIE: Oh, come on, Bert! Roll film!
BERT: Gone With The Wind had a sad ending.
Huxey is also a very interesting character. Mandy Patakin can be a funny actor in this film. Especially when he talks about a velvet painting of Elvis Presly and "West Side Story".
Also, the sets are amazing. Grouchland looks like something that would come right out of a cartoon and almost reminds me of "Ren & Stimpy" or one of those new Looney Tunes shorts Chuck Jones did in the 90's.
And then, there are the bad parts. I can spend about 30 minutes of Elmo, maybe 40 minutes. But 70 minutes! It's crazy talk! And the plot is just coo-coo. Elmo goes into Oscar's can (he is illegally going on private property) because his blanket fell in it and then some guy takes it. Who cares if some guy lost his blanket? Who cares about some guy who won't share? And the absence of Ernie and Bert an the street is kind of unsettling.
Overall rating: 6/10, was good but could have been better.
Follow That Bird (1985)
Easily the best Jim Henson related film I've seen
I remember when I was a wee youngster, Disney Channel would show this movie pretty much every single day. I would always miss the first half-hour/hour when I put it on. In 2000. I saw a tape of this movie at an FYE, I knew it was coming home with me.
I was finally able to see the beginning and what a movie it is.
The Feathered Friends, an adaption company for stray birds has chosen Big Bird as their next "victim" (you'll see why I chose that kind of word). Big Bird is sent away to a family in IL, the Dodos (the best new characters for the film). Big Bird feels tortured after they don't allow Snuffy to visit. So he runs away and his friends from Sesame Street go all across the US looking for him.
This film is funny, touching and the mood is semi-different from the show, something you don't usually see in a TV-to-movie feature. I would recommend this film to kids, Sesame Street & Muppet fans and adults who grew up on classic stuff like this on PBS.
Disney Sing-Along-Songs: Topsy Turvy (1996)
Lord No!
This video is nothing but an extended ad for The Hunchback of Notre Dame. My little brother has a relationship with this video and watches it CONSTANTLY. Maybe why I hate it so much. If I didn't have the classic Timon & Pumbaa music video, "Stand By Me" this tape would have gotten a 1, but a full screen version is here which drops 1 star. Other words, DON'T BUY IT! Here is a review for some of the songs:
Topsy Turvy - the most annoying song on the tape. Geez, some people get tired of hearing 10 guys yell "TOPSY TURVY!".
You Got A Friend In Me - the 2nd best song on the tape. I hate the fact, however, it's just one big montage of "Toy Story" clips.
Stand By Me - classic, that sums it up.
Streets Of Gold - another montage of clips. Di$ney does not seem to put a lot of effort into these videos (that's a good thing!).
That's all I remember. Good songs... BAD VIDEO!