filmbuff-05706

Despicable Me came out 15 years ago, when I was 12. I saw it a few times in a couple years, the last time being in math class in 7th grade on a free day. Today I saw it for the first time in about 13 years, and I still really enjoy it. In fact, I would call it one of my favorite animated movies.

Despicable Me is about Gru, voiced by Steve Carell doing a European-type accent. He's a villain who wants to be known as the greatest villain of all time. In competition with the son of an evil banker, he plans to steal the moon. In order to get what he needs, he adopts 3 orphan girls- Margo, Edith, and Agnes and uses them for his plan, while in turn actually caring for his adoptive daughters.

One thing that really stands out in this animated movie is the cast. Steve Carell does well with family friendly comedies, something he proved 3 years before this with Evan Almighty. There is other great talent here- such as Miranda Cosgrove (aka ICarly) as Margo. Kristen Wiig voices Miss Hattie, the cruel orphanage manager. Jason Segel voices Vector, Gru's revival, with Will Arnett voicing his Dad. Russell Brand voices Dr. Nefario, the assistant of Gru.

Finally, and kind of surprisingly, Julie Andrews voices Gru's Mom, who pretty much exists in the story to put down Gru. (In one scene, she shows the girls a picture of Gru in a dress. Margo reacts with: "He looks like a girl." Gru's Mom giggles and says: "Yes- an ugly girl.") Julie Andrews even once said that she agreed to voice her because she was the most awful person that she could possibly play. She is right, and is a delight in the role.

The animation isn't much to write home about, but it looks nice and in some cases it kind of glows- for instance, I liked the texture and color of a toy unicorn at an amusement park. This was made from Illumination, the company that went on to make movies like The Secret Life of Pets and The Grinch. If you've seen either of those, this has the same kind of look.

Despicable Me is also quite funny, and after getting older, I still managed to laugh a few times. In one moment, Vector fools around with a shrink ray and shrinks a toilet. He then coos at it: "Oh, look at the teeny tiny little toilet..." the toliet then breaks and the water shoots in his face, to which he gripes: "Curse you, tiny toilet!" That cracked me up- this is a rare time where I will compliment toilet humor!

There's another moment where Gru gripes about a children's book about kittens, and later he claims that it "accidentally" set it on fire. Moments like this still brought out laughter to this man in his 20s.

Despite being an animated kids movie with humor, it manages to have a heart too, and I must admit that I was close to tears near the end. Gru learns to love the girls, and ultimately embracing that he has a family is actually pretty touching.

I felt kind of silly rating this a 10, but I can't really think of a reason not to. It's still quite entertaining, it's funny and made me smile. This movie isn't despicable, it's wonderful.

Much has been said about Anora, the most recent movie to win Best Picture. Some think that it's incredible, others think that it was overrated. Having just seen it on the Criterion DVD, I am very much in the former category. I was invested the entire time, and it's one of the finest movies made in our current era. It even currently sits in my Top 20 favorite movies.

Anora is our title character, played by Mikey Madison. She's a tough, foul mouthed stripper and hooker who becomes enamoured with Vanya, a rich customer. But she doesn't love him for his money, she finds happiness and fulfillment with him and they agree to get married so he doesn't have to go back to Russia and join the family business.

Vanya's parents hear of the marriage, and force him to come home to annul it. Anora tries to change their mind, but they refuse to listen, and Vanya is too childish to stand up to his parents.

Watching the movie, it occurred to me how much the meaning of "Best Picture winner" has changed over time. Most winners are epics (Gone With The Wind, Ben-Hur, Lawrence of Arabia), musicals (My Fair Lady, The Sound of Music, Oliver), or movies with top notch sophistication and quality (Casablanca, The Godfather, Oppenheimer.)

I mention this, because Anora is a very different movie than these- it's set in the modern day, it's profane and sexualized, and the main character is in sex work. Does that mean Anora is not Oscar worthy? Not at all. In fact, it deserves to be in the 3rd category. It's just interesting to consider how times have changed.

While all the actors do well in their parts, Mikey Madison is certainly the star here, and I'd like to focus on her for this review. Mikey is 7 months younger than I am, and she is incredible for an actress her age.

Despite Anora's career choice and acid fire tongue, she is still a human being looking for love and affection, and is hurt when she doesn't get it from her new family.

In one scene that exemplifies this, Vanya's mother insults Anora by saying: "You're a disgusting hooker." She claps back by saying: "Your son hates you so much that he married one to tick you off."

The movie is written and directed by Sean Baker (he also cast and edited it), and he does these jobs well- his script has lots of character building dialouge and makes every scene interesting. Much of the middle of the movie is just people looking for a missing character, and it's still riveting.

While I am not going to talk about all of the performances, I will say that Baker's script does make us feel for all the characters involved- whether it's sympathy for Anora, or hatred for Vanya's mother.

There are also many comedic lines- which are so funny and perfectly timed that at one point in the middle, I had to pause the movie to recover from choking on my laughter. At one point, Anora screams so much that she is gagged with a scarf. Later, she complains of being cold, and is offered the same scarf for warmth. She says: "You've got to be kidding me." This is what required my break.

What Anora does best is that it humanizes the title character, and it's a fascinating character study. Many of us hear the word "hooker" and cringe that someone would go so low as to make a living by having sex with random strangers. Anora isn't a perfect girl- she does sleep around, she swears, and her temper is easily set off. But that's what makes her human. She still desires love and acceptance, and is hurt when she is rejected for her flaws.

Anora won't be for everybody- those offended by nudity (most of which is in the first half) and incessant swearing will not like it. But Anora is a powerful movie with great filmmaking, characters and acting to match them, and it plunges you into the world of someone who society frowns upon. I loved Anora so much, I could have started it over right away- and that's a sign of a great movie.

When considering the animated films that Walt Disney worked on, I consider Fantasia to be his magnum opus for its unique blending of classical music and animation. Walt considered making subsequent films in a series, but this wasn't as successful as Fantasia was not a huge box office hit, and so this idea was scrapped.

Luckily, in 2000, we got this modern take, and while it is not on par with the original film by comparison, on its own, it is still an exquisite piece of work.

Fantasia 2000 is just like the original film, adding classical music and animation with images that the music invokes into Disney's animators. Apart from a recreation of The Sorceror's Apprentice, there are new segments- Beethoven's 5th Symphony accompanies abstract shapes like triangular butterflies, and Rhapsody in Blue, about a day in a busy town (there's a strange moment in this when toothpaste foam doubles as shaving cream.)

There is also a retelling of The Steadfast Tin Soldier with Pixar-like animation, and a story about Noah and his wife on the Ark- this is put to Pomp and Circumstance, the music you hear as high school graduates enter the ceremony. There's a few other pieces, some short and some long.

Each segment is introduced by a famous celebrity- Steve Martin starts us out, and big names like Bette Midler, James Earl Jones, Penn and Teller, and Angela Lansbury also appear.

Some of these stars were in previous Disney movies (James Earl Jones in The Lion King, Penn in Toy Story, Angela Lansbury in Beauty and the Beast, and Bette Midler in Oliver and Company and Hocus Pocus), so their appearance isn't TOO random. Some complain that they ham it up too much, and while there is some truth in that (Steve Martin especially), it doesn't really bother me.

The music of course is grand- who doesn't love Beethoven's 5th, or hearing Pomp and Circumstance at a graduation ceremony? All the pieces are performed well.

The animation is also creative- like the shades of blue in Rhaposdy in Blue, the Noah's Ark details, and even the abstractness of triangle butterflies and flying whales. Yes, you read that right- flying whales.

If comparing this to the original film, there are some critiques that could be made- the celebrity's hamminess being one. Some could argue that this is more child-oriented than the first movie, and it feels quick considering that it is 41 minutes shorter. That said, I am not personally bothered by these things.

Again, these things personally don't bother me too much to decrease this from a 10. Judging it on its own, Fantasia 2000 is a magnificent work of art, and as one, it deserves credit along with the original film.

It's a shame that no other Fantasia films have been made. They are unique creations, and it can't be coincidence that Fantasia resembles the spelling of fantastic.