What I like most about Moana is that it’s a well-told story about a young girl who’s brave, strong and courageous enough to follow her heart.
Set in Ancient Polynesia and starring Auli’i Cravalho, Dwayne Johnson, Jermaine Clement and Nicole Scherzinger; I also like Moana because it scores quite highly on the ‘animated cuteness‘ factor, particularly baby Moana.
Cinderella (2015) remains my favourite Disney movie, in large part because of how much I enjoyed the recent live-action remake.
If I had to choose between Brave (2012) and Moana for the preferred Disney story about the adventures of a courageous young girl, Brave definitely wins. I just found the characters more entertaining, and the story personally more relatable and engaging. Nevertheless, I say watch Moana because it’s good. Who knows, it may actually end up being your favourite.
Starring ‘acting queen’ Natalie Portman and additional talented cast membersthat include Peter Sarsgaard, Greta Gerwig, John Hurt and Billy Crudup, I enjoyed taking in everything the camera focused on in director Pablo Larraín’s Jackie.
The costume and visuals in Jackie are beautiful, especially if you love the 60s aesthetic and fashions. As I watched the story of the former First Lady’s experience in the wake of her husband, John F. Kennedy’s assassination, I found myself feeling a little detached – both emotionally but mostly in terms of my enjoyment of the story structure. I couldn’t help but wonder about how much more I’d have enjoyed the film had it had a more traditional structure and been more than just about Jackie’s grief.
My specific preferences aside, Natalie Portman, of course delivered a brilliant performance. Were it up to me, I’d have handed the Best Actress Academy Award to her.
I kind of see Jackie in a similar way to the way I see American Sniper (2014). By this I mean, both films as a whole are ok, but the lead actors performances are what really makes them worth watching. Back in 2014 I was completely ready to hand the best Actor Oscar to Bradley Cooper, but then I saw Eddie Redmayne’s work in The Theory Of Everything (2014),and that was that. The rightful owner absolutely got the golden statue.
Coco is Disney Pixar’s latest animated comedy/adventure.
Starring Benjamin Bratt, Gael García Bernal and Renee Victor, it’s all about a 12-year-old boy named Miguel (Anthony Gonzalez) and a century-old mystery that leads to an extraordinary family reunion.
I like the sound of Coco. Perhaps even more than that, I’m excited about the promise of a great new film about listening to your heart and going towards your dreams.
Coco is directed by Lee Unkrich and Adrian Molina.
In Voice From the Stone, Emilia Clarke plays a solemn nurse who’s tasked with aiding a young boy who hasn’t spoken since his mother passed suddenly.
Also starring Marton Csokas and Caterina Murino, this Eric D. Howell-directed thriller is set in 1950s Tuscany.
If I were in the mood to be completely ridiculous, I’d say that Emilia Clarke has been ‘typecast’ because this is the second film where she’s been ‘brought in to help an unwell young man recover’. The first film of course, being 2016’s romantic movie, Me Before You. The real truth is, I’m far too wise, and therefore, know only too well that twice does not a typecast actor make.
Watching Voice From The Stone shouldn’t be difficult for me because it’s not exactly a horror film. Also, I love Italy and I’m far too young to know what Tuscany was like in the 1950s, and I want to.
I may have shed a tear or two because Collateral Beauty isa story about a father unable to function after his six-year-old daughter passes, but that doesn’t mean it was a ‘weepy’ holiday film done well.
Starring Will Smith, Kate Winslet, Helen Mirren, Keira Knightley, Edward Norton, Naomie Harris and Jacob Latimore, the signs that the David Frankel-directed movie wasn’t going to be the best experience overall, started with me finding myself irritated by Smith’s ‘mourning face’ – within the first 20 minutes. Not really great since he spends at least 95% of the film wearing said face.
In addition to my apparent impatience with seemingly prolonged periods of misery, I was disappointed that Collateral Beauty didn’t come together as well as I’d hoped. There’s something about the pace and edit that didn’t sit well with me. Mainly, however, I find myself leaning towards the quality of the story as another reason why my experience was underwhelming. Perhaps I didn’t get to spend enough time with Howard (Smith) before his tragedy. Had I done so, I may have cared more deeply about his distress. Most of the cast, if not all are almost too talented for their performances to be the problem.
The few moments of humour between Winslet, Norton and Pena’s characters is my main highlight. I also liked the dialogue when Knightly’s character is literally on stage and reading her lines to the young man played by Latimore. I was quite taken at this point. Beyond these few brief moments where I’m really engaged, the only other aspect of Collateral Beauty that made me happyis the imagery of New York City. I really do miss that place.
Watch Collateral Beauty if nothing will stop you, just don’t expect great things.
