Film Snark

About

Film Snark started as a whim at the beginning of the 2020 COVID pandemic, when we first started locking down in March and April. A friend of mine posted on Facebook that they were re-watching some of their Disney faves. I decided to do something similar, only I wanted to start from the beginning of Disney's animated films and watch them chronologically and see what I'd missed, and what I definitely hadn't missed.

Notable Grossness

This section in a review is where I call out anything particularly sexist, racist, transphobic, or ableist (though of course, I will probably miss loads of stuff, I'm an amateur at this).

I do not believe in "that was the way at the time" as an excuse for sexism, racism, transphobia and ableism. I can usually find at least a few resources of people who openly spoke out against sexism, racism, transphobia and ableism in past history. I have faith that people are able to understand human rights and equality; people have been speaking out about racism since the dawn of the practice.

I'm not always going to get it right but I'm going to keep trying and keep getting better, and if it made you stop and re-evaluate your faves at all, then I'm doing my job.

I attended film school for a couple of years, and have always enjoyed discussing films on an academic as well as casual level. I'm a chronic re-watcher; a movie or TV episode I have seen before is usually playing somewhere in my house, while I do laundry, or write code, or knit. I'm a deliberate serial watcher, as well. I watch things in a specific order (usually from the first episode, I'm YEARS behind on some podcasts). I think it's important to investigate and interrogate our history, our media, and our own memories often.

I'm also a lapsed cosplay nerd, and I lean pretty heavy on sci-fi/fantasy and action movies. I'm actually hoping I can use this blog as an excuse to start expanding back into the non-mainstream films I used to watch more regularly.

Recent Snark

A movie release poster shows a group of white people, 4 men, a woman, and a young boy, surrounding a green animated dragon with pink wings and red hair. The poster says "Coming at Christmas, Walt Disney Productions' Pete's Dragon"

Pete's Dragon

There are literally 3 good people in this film: Elliott, Pete, and Nora. Three and a half because Lampie has his good moments. This is a movie about a bunch of jerky, drunk people who are either trying to scam a small town or abuse children.

They didn't spend enough time with Elliott visible. He's darling and I love him. Given that I hate almost everyone else in this film, I want more Elliot time.

The right message is there in the end, honestly, but my patience is very thin for how much terribleness is mixed in. I'll give them 40+ minutes of true wholesomeness at the beginning (after the Gogans' first song), but the movie could have done with like...2 less groups of villains. The town, the teacher, the Gogans, the traveling scam artist. I need a break from everyone who's awful.

March 28th, 2023
Five human actors, a woman, a man, and three children of various ages, sit on a flying brass bed with a floral blanket, with the moon and clouds behind them. Below them, illustrated animals are in various poses: two fish dance together (one in a suit); two fish and an octopus play in a band together with the words "The Briny Boys" on the front of the drum kit; an alligator, a rhino, and a gorilla run around a soccer field in yellow and green athletic outfits; a lion in a crown and red royal robe stands with one foot on the soccer ball; and a secretary bird in a suit with glasses stands watching.

Bedknobs and Broomsticks

Ultimately, the plot is held together very loosely and the pacing on the movie is pretty slow. I like that Eglantine is doing correspondence for witchcraft and that Browne is a huckster; I also like that her purpose is to help England win the war, and I like that she has to take the kids in. It's hard to tell what slows the pace down for me; maybe it's the side trip to Naboombu or the fight with the bookseller, or something. It feels like they tried to squeeze too much in and it made it slower and kind of boring?

The special effects are hit-or-miss, as is the music. But I do still love Eglantine, and the moments I had in my head as memories are still as fun now as they were when I was a kid. I definitely feel like this was another play by Disney to build off of Mary Poppins' success, and this is an inferior film.

February 11th, 2023