doozer333

Memoirs of a Geisha is certainly a gorgeous film to behold, and it deserves all of the awards it earned for those feats. There were scenes I found I wanted to freeze and hang on my wall. Unfortunately, the actual film isn't as rich as its imagery. It's entertaining, to be sure. But without the rich details the book provided, the whole thing seems somewhat frivolous. It almost plays like a particularly exotic nighttime soap.

I do not fully understand the hubbub over the casting myself. The film certainly does not feel authentically Japanese and in fact, there are many scenes and touches that can almost be considered anachronistic. But I felt that in itself didn't detract from the film. As an American film-goer, I am quite used to people of different races playing people they are clearly not. I have witnessed too many bad accents to count, so I was not distracted by the un-Japanese-ness of it all. I am, however, not Japanese.

That said, I think everyone does a fine job of bringing the characters to life, and I think specific mention should be given to Youki Kudoh in the thankless roll of Pumpkin. What keeps the film from being truly great is a distinct lack of grit and toughness. The film never really gives the impression that being a Geisha was all that bad. Whenever our heroine, Sayuri, runs up against what must be some of the considerable cons of the business, even she seems surprised. "You mean there's a downside to this whole quasi-prostitute thing?" The cleaned up Hollywood ending wants us to believe things are left bittersweet, but it really comes off just sweet. Like Pretty Woman in a kimono. The book had a melancholy grace that the film just lacks. Worth a rent if you've read the book, but if the movie hasn't yet piqued your interest, don't give it a second thought. You're not missing all that much.

I loved this movie as a kid, as did just about every person I know. So it works for the youngins. As an adult, and an animation fan, I was surprised to learn that this movie is sort of the Disney studio's secret shame. I had nothing but fond memories of it, after all. And I could name at least a dozen Disney films that I would have put ahead of it on my Most Crappy list. I very recently watched it on television after many years, and yes, it is definitely flawed. The quality of the animation is terrible, and the lack of an over arching story makes the whole thing seem frivolous, like it was made for TV and not for a big studio release. There are holes in the narrative, scenes that should exist that don't, and scenes that have no reason to exist that do. And I think the somewhat random decision to cast the film with animals lends to the Saturday morning vibe as well.

But there's enough cool things peaking out from under all the half-assery that rescues the film just enough for it to be enjoyable. Peter Ustinov turns in an excellent, excellent performance as Prince John, at turns hysterical and genuinely nasty. Brian Bedford oozes easy going charm as Robin. He's probably turned in the second most likable performance of the character captured on film. He's just unfortunately delivering it through the poorly animated mouth of a cartoon fox. And though the actual quality of the animation is poor, some of the character animation is pretty clever and expressive. And I have to applaud the choice to add Roger Miller to the mix as a folkie, possibly pot-smoking minstrel rooster. His character adds a cool, Earthy vibe to the proceedings and as others have mentioned, his song, Not in Nottingham, actually sort of works as a blues song. Weird.

So Robin Hood is definitely not the epic tale Disney was capable of churning out in its hey days, but I dug it as a kid, and I still dig it today. You know, looking back at all my reviews on this site, it seems I mostly leap to the defense of classically bad films that I like anyway. That's OK, I guess. Someone has to.

I watched this film about a thousand times when I was a kid and upon a nostalgia induced viewing of it on the Disney Channel, it has joined my list as one of the most oddly pleasurable films ever made. First of all, you have to give it credit for its premise alone. Take a standard road trip buddy picture and cast it with talking household appliances. Acid induced? Maybe. But they take this ridiculous premise and roll with it, turning it into something that is honestly funny, sometimes sweet and strangely enough, kind of thought provoking in it's own way. The dialog is almost Toy Story sharp at times, referencing everything from Joan Rivers to Teddy Roosevelt, and just like it's computer animated descendant, throws around some heavy ideas. We watch as cars reminisce about their glory days before being crushed into cubes, look on in horror as appliances are gutted barbarically at a used parts store and root our quaint heroes on as they are confronted with the techno marvels of the modern age. The characters just struggle to get home but the movie is about the struggle to stay relevant when you're constantly being replaced by a faster model. An interesting idea when you think about it, and a fun, cool little movie worth seeing no matter what your age.