Week 25 brings us to 1985.
I turned down:
Return To OZ
The Black Cauldron
One magic Christmas
I went with one of my favorites that I have not seen in a long time. I mentioned last week I think it is overlooked a bit. The Journey Of Natty Gann.
The movie made a little over 2 million when it came out. It had pretty good reviews. I looked up that year. Back To The Future..The Goonies..Teen Wolf..The Breakfast Club. Children and teen movies that may have made Natty Gann get lost in shuffle.
Well to the movie! Natty Gann a young girl in the depression era is left behind in Chicago while her father gets a job in Washington state. He plans to send for her once he gets his first pay day. Circumstances in Chicago forces Natty to head to Washington on her own. Which leads to a big adventure.
Meredith Salenger as Natty is just spot on wonderful!
Ray Wise is very good as her father ( however years later in Washington he kills Laura Palmer).
A young John Cusack as Natty on and off again traveling partner is perfect.
I have not seen this movie in over 20 years, I have to say I did not like it as much as I did back then. That is not putting it down, it is still a very good film, just not perfect as I remember. I just felt this time it was a little long. Maybe, I love the ending and I wanted to get to it. It could be me just being anxious.
Another important note is...who is this for. Natty smokes. She curses (SH##). There is dog fighting and some intense scenes. Not over the top, it is Disney, but you should know if you plan on watching it with the family. Surprisingly it keeps the era dark. Probably ok for 9 and up.
I wish it was available on Blu-Ray. The DVD transfer from Netflix was not good. The scenery I bet is beautiful but it was mostly blurry.
Fun facts and not so fun:
Salenger went on a couple years later to Harvard, she got a degree in Psychology. She still does small films. She does a lot of voice work including, Star Wars Clone Wars fans, many voices for the show. For Natty Gann she got a gold award in Moscow for her performance.
For John Cusack, this was a year after his small part in Sixteen Candles. This was the same year Better Off Dead and A Sure Thing came out. So 1985 was pretty much the year he broke out.
Journey Of Natty Gann I think is still a very very good film. I would give it 4 1/2 out of 5 Mickeys.
Now BRAVE!!
Saw it today. Very important if you plan on going. Do not spend the extra money for 3D. It adds nothing. If anything it takes away the Pixar pop of color.
The three main voices are perfect:
Kelly Macdonald
Billy Connolly
Emma Thompson
You watch the movie and you feel like you have just seen this story line in the Princess And The Frog. Diffrences are time period, the focus on the mother and daughter relationship, and Merida is a tough young lady (physically). The story moves a bit slow in the beginning, then kicks into gear. The "spell" is odd at first, but I got used to it (trying not to give anything away). I did not get the boys. I thought they were added because Pixar was nervous that there was not enough humor. I disagree with that, more humor was not needed because the lead, Merida, is so interesting, she carries it. In fact I hated the boys.
A couple of more notes: another strong Pixar short La Luna is before the film. Also stay through the credits a little part of the movie we forgot about gets resolved.
So, I know I have my Pixar blinders on probably, a comeback from Cars 2, I would give it 4 Mickeys out of 5.
So we tip our Mickey ears to two strong Disney women this week Natty and Merida!
Thanks as always for your time.
Have a great week!
I turned down:
Return To OZ
The Black Cauldron
One magic Christmas
I went with one of my favorites that I have not seen in a long time. I mentioned last week I think it is overlooked a bit. The Journey Of Natty Gann.
The movie made a little over 2 million when it came out. It had pretty good reviews. I looked up that year. Back To The Future..The Goonies..Teen Wolf..The Breakfast Club. Children and teen movies that may have made Natty Gann get lost in shuffle.
Well to the movie! Natty Gann a young girl in the depression era is left behind in Chicago while her father gets a job in Washington state. He plans to send for her once he gets his first pay day. Circumstances in Chicago forces Natty to head to Washington on her own. Which leads to a big adventure.
Meredith Salenger as Natty is just spot on wonderful!
Ray Wise is very good as her father ( however years later in Washington he kills Laura Palmer).
A young John Cusack as Natty on and off again traveling partner is perfect.
I have not seen this movie in over 20 years, I have to say I did not like it as much as I did back then. That is not putting it down, it is still a very good film, just not perfect as I remember. I just felt this time it was a little long. Maybe, I love the ending and I wanted to get to it. It could be me just being anxious.
Another important note is...who is this for. Natty smokes. She curses (SH##). There is dog fighting and some intense scenes. Not over the top, it is Disney, but you should know if you plan on watching it with the family. Surprisingly it keeps the era dark. Probably ok for 9 and up.
I wish it was available on Blu-Ray. The DVD transfer from Netflix was not good. The scenery I bet is beautiful but it was mostly blurry.
Fun facts and not so fun:
Salenger went on a couple years later to Harvard, she got a degree in Psychology. She still does small films. She does a lot of voice work including, Star Wars Clone Wars fans, many voices for the show. For Natty Gann she got a gold award in Moscow for her performance.
For John Cusack, this was a year after his small part in Sixteen Candles. This was the same year Better Off Dead and A Sure Thing came out. So 1985 was pretty much the year he broke out.
Journey Of Natty Gann I think is still a very very good film. I would give it 4 1/2 out of 5 Mickeys.
Now BRAVE!!
Saw it today. Very important if you plan on going. Do not spend the extra money for 3D. It adds nothing. If anything it takes away the Pixar pop of color.
The three main voices are perfect:
Kelly Macdonald
Billy Connolly
Emma Thompson
You watch the movie and you feel like you have just seen this story line in the Princess And The Frog. Diffrences are time period, the focus on the mother and daughter relationship, and Merida is a tough young lady (physically). The story moves a bit slow in the beginning, then kicks into gear. The "spell" is odd at first, but I got used to it (trying not to give anything away). I did not get the boys. I thought they were added because Pixar was nervous that there was not enough humor. I disagree with that, more humor was not needed because the lead, Merida, is so interesting, she carries it. In fact I hated the boys.
A couple of more notes: another strong Pixar short La Luna is before the film. Also stay through the credits a little part of the movie we forgot about gets resolved.
So, I know I have my Pixar blinders on probably, a comeback from Cars 2, I would give it 4 Mickeys out of 5.
So we tip our Mickey ears to two strong Disney women this week Natty and Merida!
Thanks as always for your time.
Have a great week!