@Lotherio said in Good or New Movies Review:
For what it's worth if your not familiar with They Might Be Giants work in children's genres, they perform the Meeska Moosa variant at the opening of the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse as well as the ending song Hot Dog. They also are in Coraline with the other father song. They still do their own music as well and are touring in 2020.
But their greatest work is still what they did for Animaniacs.
...
Mickey Mouse Clubhouse?
So nobody here has seen the absolutely sublime Paul Rudish Mickey Mouse cartoons that have basically been the face of the character since 2013?
At this point with 94 shorts they're edging in on nearly as many Rudish shorts as there were original Mickey Mouse shorts between 1928 and 1953.
Minnie, Pluto, Goofy and Donald make regular appearances. The show is a total throwback to the zaniness of the black and white Plane Crazy/Steamboat Willy days. And they're willing to get kinda disturbing, like the one where Minnie, Clarabell and Daisy go to the fanciest restaurant in town, or the one where Mickey fights a gang of pinata bandits in the old west, ending with this image of joyous village children celebrating Mickey's victory.
And while we're on the subject, the new Ducktales is going into its third season and basically rules.
@Groth said in Good or New Movies Review:
@GreenFlashlight said in Good or New Movies Review:
My position is, I don't think you should say you're an ally if you're not willing to do things an ally would do. Lying is generally a bad thing.
When has Disney ever said they are an ally? Their only political position has ever been profit.
They've definitely been trying to cash in on inclusivity--see LeFou from the Beauty and the Beast live-action remake, and also for everything wrong with their approach to it.
Yes, it's true that giant multinational empires are only in it for the profit. Right now they're trying to cash in on inclusivity as a vehicle for it, and they've taken some very big strides for representation (eg, making the main characters of their new Star Wars trilogy a black man and a woman). Media and pop culture do matter; they help shape the way we see the world. (Yes, I know, you (the reader) are super-rational and know the difference between fiction and real life. Apropos of nothing, the "one call from jail" isn't a thing, at all, it was just something writers made up.)
Right now, representation is profitable to Stateside audiences. And that is, on balance, a good thing. But Disney still wants them sweet sweet Singapore dollars so they have to consider the sensibilities of foreign censors for their big tentpole films.
So while it's true that "Disney" (the corporate entity) has no political allegiance, their pursuit of profit has them giving mealy-mouthed deniable inclusions to try and present themselves as LGBTQ allies, while not actually doing anything that would raise heckles in an anti-LGBTQ authoritarian regime (at least not after thirty seconds in an editing room). It's perfectly reasonable to complain that the result is a condescending, underhanded load of taff.
ETA: It is also possible that deniable representation in film is the work of genuine creatives working within the constraints of a studio system that restricts what can be allowed in the text.
@insomniac7809 said in Good or New Movies Review:
But Disney still wants them sweet sweet Singapore dollars so they have to consider the sensibilities of foreign censors for their big tentpole films.
Star Wars: lesbian kiss cut from The Rise of Skywalker in Singapore
@Auspice said in Good or New Movies Review:
I think one of the few cases in recent years where a company truly made strides as opposed to 'just slap a rainbow on it and make us some $$$' was Target. Because they took a holistic approach to inclusivity. You can find cards at a Target specifically for gay or lesbian relationships, not just 'eh, put some neutral cards out; those will work' type stuff. They acknowledged 'A wife may want a card for her wife' or 'People may want to wish both grooms congratulations' and saw it through.
I think, for a lot of people, that's the sort of thing they want to see. Sure, it's fun to have rainbow mouse ears if you go to Disney, but if that's all they have to offer, it sort of stings too to know that it wasn't worth the effort of putting any more thought into it than 'rainbow stuff = $$$'
As someone who spent years working in marketing organizations, the inclusivity of Target's advertisements was a big deal in the industry. Like, even though I worked at pharmaceutical and financial companies for ten years, it was pretty standard for Target to drop their Christmas toy catalog and find copies of it floating around my office within a few days, with every page that depicted people with physical disabilities, interracial relationships, a nod to their ethnicity, plus sized models, or families headed by same-sex couples with their pages turned down for people to look at -- and not just to steal ideas, but because they honestly enjoyed looking at the catalog.
Honestly, it's probably one of the most wholesome things I've ever seen in a business context because people wanted to improve our advertisements not just for the $$$, but because they were sincerely emotional every time one of their coworkers got all worked up and excited about seeing someone in that book that looked like them and their family. And if you do that enough, it stops feeling like a throwaway and starts looking like real life.
https://whatiswrongwith.me/Mia
There were never any good old days. They are today. They are tomorrow. It's a stupid thing we say, cursing tomorrow with sorrow. -- Gogol Bordello
@Aria said in Good or New Movies Review:
@Auspice said in Good or New Movies Review:
I think one of the few cases in recent years where a company truly made strides as opposed to 'just slap a rainbow on it and make us some $$$' was Target. Because they took a holistic approach to inclusivity. You can find cards at a Target specifically for gay or lesbian relationships, not just 'eh, put some neutral cards out; those will work' type stuff. They acknowledged 'A wife may want a card for her wife' or 'People may want to wish both grooms congratulations' and saw it through.
I think, for a lot of people, that's the sort of thing they want to see. Sure, it's fun to have rainbow mouse ears if you go to Disney, but if that's all they have to offer, it sort of stings too to know that it wasn't worth the effort of putting any more thought into it than 'rainbow stuff = $$$'
As someone who spent years working in marketing organizations, the inclusivity of Target's advertisements was a big deal in the industry. Like, even though I worked at pharmaceutical and financial companies for ten years, it was pretty standard for Target to drop their Christmas toy catalog and find copies of it floating around my office within a few days, with every page that depicted people with physical disabilities, interracial relationships, a nod to their ethnicity, plus sized models, or families headed by same-sex couples with their pages turned down for people to look at -- and not just to steal ideas, but because they honestly enjoyed looking at the catalog.
Honestly, it's probably one of the most wholesome things I've ever seen in a business context because people wanted to improve our advertisements not just for the $$$, but because they were sincerely emotional every time one of their coworkers got all worked up and excited about seeing someone in that book that looked like them and their family. And if you do that enough, it stops feeling like a throwaway and starts looking like real life.
In the same vein, when Aerie/AE made their announcement that they would no longer photoshop their models... their catalogs looked twenty times better. Like, GASP, you could see belly rolls on girls sitting (damn near everyone's belly folds when they sit, it's anatomy, but teenage me thought differently due to models in advertising), you see girls covered in FRECKLES (fuck the people in the advertising industry who thought freckles were bad and began THAT trend), and even larger girls. I absolutely make Aerie/AE one of my stops when I need to shop for new stuff.
(The pants I am wearing rn are actually from them and they are black/red plaid and my favorite pants.)
Saying the quiet parts out loud since 1996.
@Auspice said in Good or New Movies Review:
@Aria said in Good or New Movies Review:
@Auspice said in Good or New Movies Review:
I think one of the few cases in recent years where a company truly made strides as opposed to 'just slap a rainbow on it and make us some $$$' was Target. Because they took a holistic approach to inclusivity. You can find cards at a Target specifically for gay or lesbian relationships, not just 'eh, put some neutral cards out; those will work' type stuff. They acknowledged 'A wife may want a card for her wife' or 'People may want to wish both grooms congratulations' and saw it through.
I think, for a lot of people, that's the sort of thing they want to see. Sure, it's fun to have rainbow mouse ears if you go to Disney, but if that's all they have to offer, it sort of stings too to know that it wasn't worth the effort of putting any more thought into it than 'rainbow stuff = $$$'
As someone who spent years working in marketing organizations, the inclusivity of Target's advertisements was a big deal in the industry. Like, even though I worked at pharmaceutical and financial companies for ten years, it was pretty standard for Target to drop their Christmas toy catalog and find copies of it floating around my office within a few days, with every page that depicted people with physical disabilities, interracial relationships, a nod to their ethnicity, plus sized models, or families headed by same-sex couples with their pages turned down for people to look at -- and not just to steal ideas, but because they honestly enjoyed looking at the catalog.
Honestly, it's probably one of the most wholesome things I've ever seen in a business context because people wanted to improve our advertisements not just for the $$$, but because they were sincerely emotional every time one of their coworkers got all worked up and excited about seeing someone in that book that looked like them and their family. And if you do that enough, it stops feeling like a throwaway and starts looking like real life.
In the same vein, when Aerie/AE made their announcement that they would no longer photoshop their models... their catalogs looked twenty times better. Like, GASP, you could see belly rolls on girls sitting (damn near everyone's belly folds when they sit, it's anatomy, but teenage me thought differently due to models in advertising), you see girls covered in FRECKLES (fuck the people in the advertising industry who thought freckles were bad and began THAT trend), and even larger girls. I absolutely make Aerie/AE one of my stops when I need to shop for new stuff.
(The pants I am wearing rn are actually from them and they are black/red plaid and my favorite pants.)
As someone who is plus-sized, I go out of my way to spend money at stores that don't put all of their clothes on models who are a 5'11" and US size 12 (fuck you, that's still smaller than the average woman's size in the States and at that height is just called 'proportional') and who stopped airbrushing out any hints of a stretchmark or cellulite.
My MIL watched me burst into tears the first time I saw a TV show where there was a plus-sized female protagonist that was neither a middle-aged mother or the butt of someone's joke, but just, y'know.... my size.
Representation that isn't tokenism matters so goddamn much.
What was it? Literally the only thing I can think of is Melissa McCarthy in Spy.
maximum craveability
@TheOnceler said in Good or New Movies Review:
What was it? Literally the only thing I can think of is Melissa McCarthy in Spy.
Dietland based on the novel by Sarai Walker. Sadly, they didn't renew it for another season -- which I kind of understand given its premise and how some things really just did convert well to the screen.. The book was wonderful, to the point that I bought three extra copies and just foisted them off on other women I know who have felt that same sort of "I have never seen someone who looks like me on screen that wasn't a joke" experience.
@TheOnceler said in Good or New Movies Review:
What was it? Literally the only thing I can think of is Melissa McCarthy in Spy.
Double-post because I wanted to add that I absolutely adore Melissa McCarthy and Rebel Wilson, who are both insanely funny, but it's only been a more recent thing that the characters they're playing are just.... that size because that's the size the actresses are, and not something that's made a regular joke of in whatever they're doing. (Looking at you, Bridesmaids and Pitch Perfect.)
Even sitting down and really thinking about it, the only exception that comes to mind is McCarthy's role as Sookie St. James in Gilmore Girls, but bear in mind that her character in that show is:
a) the quirky, crazy best friend and not a lead role
b) literally a chef
c) has exactly one romantic relationship.... with her produce supplier
Plus McCarthy was significantly thinner then than she was during the majority of her recognized film roles. Sooooo.... Sookie's a great character, but even so, she's a funny sidekick whose life revolves around food and is rarely taken seriously by the people around her.
Cats was fantastic.
Granted, I love the musical. I always have. I like the ballet, I like interpretive dance — I love it all. As such, I’m biased,
But it has flaws. The CGI work in the first 20 minutes is terrible. The staging for the early bits is also poor. But the movie gets better, and the performances of the knight and the lady are amazing.
Hudson will probably get a nod, if not the outright win. If Hathaway picked up a statue, Hudson should as well, especially given that she’s a mezzo. And I adore her take on it: tentative emotion to grief to outrage. It was beautiful and I was moved to tears.
The little additions should help a novice figure out what is going on. I hated what they did with Growltiger. And I think I’m in love with Francesca Hayward.
“It is better to live doing the things that you like. It is foolish to live within this dream of a world seeing unpleasantness and doing only things that you do not like.” -- Yamamoto Tsunetomo.
See, I had the option to go out and see Cats today (and I have an unlimited card for the cinema so it would have cost me nothing) but I still stayed in and watched the Bolshoi do DQ instead, and I still think I made the right decision. Because Krysanova is the most amazing Kitri ever and always looks like she's having FUN.
Cats occupies a weird place somewhere between dance and musical and doesn't quite hit the spot for me as either. However, that doesn't mean it deserves some of the reviews I've seen, where the critics don't seem to know what they're going in to see. OMG anthromorphic cats dancing! Uh. Yes. That's sort of the point.
Little Women on the other hand, I went to see over the weekend, and it was a superb adaptation with some stunning costumes (because I'm all about the costume porn) and Saoirse Ronan as a brilliant Jo.
I've heard Little Women is this generation's The Godfather. I'm eager to watch it.
A QUIET PLACE PART 2?!?!?
@Caggles said in Good or New Movies Review:
Cats occupies a weird place somewhere between dance and musical and doesn't quite hit the spot for me as either.
I saw the stage show and didn't really like it. I don't consider it a musical. It's just a series of vaguely related cat themed songs without anything to really tie it together as a whole. The lack of a story can be argued but I did say vaguely related which is all I consider it to be.
To be fair, Hooper’s version has a cognizable plot which critics apparently couldn’t figure out, despite being plain and bare.
And I have to say that I hate it that modern productions cut out Growltiger’s Last Stand, something which the movie mostly messes up as well.
The sad part is that it is a fairly important play-in-play.
Just back in from Jojo Rabbit. Absolutely loved it - switches from laugh out loud one moment to tears the next. Highly recommend. 5/7.
@Caggles said in Good or New Movies Review:
Just back in from Jojo Rabbit. Absolutely loved it - switches from laugh out loud one moment to tears the next. Highly recommend. 5/7.
... why are you grading movies out of 7? 
I'm not sure if "not sure if trolling or serious" is being used correctly when in reference to someone not recognizing an internet meme no one should really expected to know.
maximum craveability
@Lotherio said in Good or New Movies Review:
For what it's worth if your not familiar with They Might Be Giants work in children's genres, they perform the Meeska Moosa variant at the opening of the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse as well as the ending song Hot Dog. They also are in Coraline with the other father song. They still do their own music as well and are touring in 2020.
But their greatest work is still what they did for Animaniacs.
