WHEN THE WIND BLOWS -- Blu-ray Review by Porfle

Originally posted on 4/24/20

 

Did you ever wonder what it would look like if THREADS had a cartoon-animated subplot? Or if the creators of "Wallace & Gromit" had placed their beloved characters in the middle of a nuclear holocaust?

Children's author Raymond Briggs conceived such an idea in a graphic novel which a group of filmmakers including director Jimmy T. Murakami (HEAVY METAL, BATTLE BEYOND THE STARS) brought to the screen, thus giving us the entrancingly compelling cinematic oddity entitled WHEN THE WIND BLOWS (Severin Kids, 1986).

Unlike the frantically alarmist apocalypse thrillers to which we're accustomed, this tale of an elderly couple whose peaceful retirement is shattered by nuclear war is quietly, disarmingly genteel.

We first see them enjoying a typical day in their secluded cottage, chatting absently about tea and gardening and such, while news of impending war sparks Jim's interest and motivates him into a mildly industrious fervor of preparation that brings back nostalgic feelings of the Blitz.

Meanwhile, Hilda (whom Jim endearingly calls "Ducks") refuses to entertain the notion that anything could disturb their blissful daily routines, their ability to pop down to a shop for fresh food or other supplies, or their access to telly or radio plays. 

These are the sort of likable, roundly-drawn cartoon characters (they look a bit like cuddly plush dolls) we know from a thousand children's books and movies, characters whose only concerns should be gentle, placid ones such as, say, a naughty bunny rabbit helping himself to their carrot garden.

Here, however, their idyllic lives are disrupted when the harsh, cruel reality of the really-real world ruptures the curtain of their cartoon dimension and leaves it all a charred, smoking ruin with a dark cloud of radioactive fallout drifting through it.

Jim and Hilda are similar to the older couple in THREADS with their lean-to shelter in the livingroom providing sparse protection against the blast and their halfhearted efforts to stock food, water, and other necessities quickly proving inadequate. 

What makes them different is that they continue to behave just like endearing cartoon figures out of a children's story, with Jim remaining a font of quiet optimism--after all, they lived through something similar back when they fought the Jerries--and Hilda blessedly oblivious to the fact that she can't just tidy things up and wait for the milkman to come.

The restraint shown by the filmmakers in not giving in to the usual dramatic overkill makes the encroaching horrors Jim and Hilda inevitably face seem even more wrenching, with their continued devotion to each other through it all especially heartrending as their ordinary storybook lives crumble to dust.

Artwork and animation are expertly done, using a combination of various methods such as cel animation, a bit of CGI, what appears to be some miniature work on the interiors, and the occasional well-integrated live action footage. 

The musical score includes songs by David Bowie, Roger Waters, and others. Jim and Hilda are wonderfully voiced by venerable actors Sir John Mills and Dame Peggy Ashcroft.

The Blu-ray from Severin Films' "Severin Kids" label contains their usual ample menu, including a documentary about the director ("Jimmy Murakami: Non Alien"), a making-of featurette ("The Wind and the Bomb"), an audio commentary with first assistant editor Joe Fordham and film historian Nick Redman, an interview with children's author Raymond Briggs, an original public information film ("Protect and Serve"), isolated music and effects audio track, and trailers.

In its own remarkable way, WHEN THE WIND BLOWS is one of the darkest and most disheartening of the post-nuclear nightmare tales. It's like watching Wallace and Gromit slowly withering away from radiation poisoning, and, worst of all, Wallace finally realizing at the point of dying that there may never, ever be any more cheese.


Buy it from Severin Films

Special Features:

    Jimmy Murakami: Non Alien – Feature Length Documentary About the Film’s Director
    The Wind and The Bomb: The Making of WHEN THE WIND BLOWS
    Audio Commentary with First Assistant Editor Joe Fordham and Film Historian Nick Redman
    An Interview with Raymond Briggs
    Protect and Survive: Public Information Film Designed to be Broadcast When a Nuclear Attack Was Imminent
    Isolated Music and Effects Audio Track
    Trailers

WHEN THE WIND BLOWS -- Blu-ray Review by Porfle

16 WISHES -- DVD Review by Porfle

Originally posted on 11/13/10

 

When you're considerably older than the target audience, watching a Disney Channel teen comedy can be like swallowing a golf ball.  At worst, you choke on it and die.  At best, even successfully swallowing the damn thing can be a distressing experience.  Fortunately, 16 WISHES (2010) isn't quite the painful ordeal I was dreading when I sat down to watch it.

It sure starts out that way, though--when we see Abby (Debby Ryan, "The Suite Life on Deck") pop out of bed and start freaking out because it's her "Sweet 16th" birthday, we instantly hate her.  Abby is spoiled, selfish, obnoxious, cutesy, and kind of an airhead.  She's rude to her mom and dad and little brother Mike (Cainan Wiebe, who looks so much like a young Barry Williams that I half-expected him to start crooning "Clowns never laughed before" at any moment) when they burst into her room with a birthday cake, and throws them out. 

She also can't figure out why her cute neighbor Krista (Karissa Tynes, JENNIFER'S BODY, DEAR MR. GACY), who shares the same birthday, hates her and has always done her best to one-up her in everything.  But we can sympathize, and we've only known Abby for five minutes. 

Naturally, Abby has a best guy-friend named Jay (Jean-Luc Bilodeau, TRICK 'R TREAT) who has always loved her although she doesn't realize it because she's hung up on the dashing school quarterback.  Jay is the male equivalent of Mary Stuart Masterson's character in SOME KIND OF WONDERFUL, along with similar characters in countless other teen comedies.  We know that by the end of the film, Abby will realize how wonderful Jay is, but for now let's pretend that we don't know that.
 

Also, when a magical fairy godmother named Celeste (the pixie-like Anna Mae Routledge, 2012, "Harper's Island") shows up and gives Abby sixteen candles which will grant her the sixteen fondest wishes she's had since she was eight years old, we know that sooner or later these wishes will backfire on Abby and she'll come to realize that her life is just fine the way it is.  But again, for now we'll act like we don't know this, or that Abby is going to come through her impending ordeal a much better person with a greater appreciation for the good things she already has, which is the sneaky hidden lesson 16 WISHES is just itching to spring on unsuspecting teen viewers.

In the meantime, the fun part about the movie is the vicarious thrill of instant wish-fulfillment such as having the coolest clothes, a new car complete with driver's license, intense school-wide popularity, and all sorts of other great stuff that Abby can rub in Krista's face, including having a totally better Sweet 16 birthday party than her.  But then--wouldn't you know it--Abby makes the fatal mistake of wishing that everyone would stop treating her like a kid.  Whoops!  Next thing you know, her parents move her into her own apartment, she gets thrown out of school, and Jay won't let her near him because he's still 17 and she's suddenly (gasp) 21.  Is he nuts?  When I was 17, having a 21-year-old babe stalking me would've been my biggest freakin' wish.
 

The rest of the movie is like a teenybopper cross between "The Twilight Zone" and IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE, which actually makes 16 WISHES kind of entertaining despite the fact that it's still a candy-coated bubblegum flick with unappealing cinematography and vertigo-inducing camerawork and editing.  While Abby isn't made to suffer the depths of despair that George Bailey went through, her predicament is still interesting enough to make us care about her character, especially when the whole thing teaches her to become a better person which, as I mentioned before, we pretty much knew was going to happen.

The DVD from Image Entertainment is 1.78:1 with Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound.  No subtitles.  Extras include interviews with the two stars, Debby Ryan and Jean-Luc Bilodeau, which can be a pretty frightening prospect with these Disney Channel movies, but fortunately they're very brief.  There's also a music video with Debby performing the catchy, hook-filled theme song, "A Wish Comes True Everyday", and outtakes during the closing credits.

Once you stop wishing for a really awesome movie and just settle for dumb fun, 16 WISHES isn't all that bad.  As far as swallowing golf balls goes, this one actually went down pretty easy.

16 WISHES -- DVD Review by Porfle

THE HARDY BOYS: THE MYSTERY OF THE APPLEGATE TREASURE -- Serial Review by Porfle

 

Originally posted on 8/26/21

 

Currently watching: THE HARDY BOYS: THE MYSTERY OF THE APPLEGATE TREASURE (1956), a 19-part serial produced by Disney to be shown in daily installments (approx. 11 minutes each) during consecutive episodes of "The Mickey Mouse Club."

This adaptation of Leslie McFarlane's book "The Hardy Boys: The Tower Treasure" should appeal to fans of the Hardy Boys detective stories by Franklin W. Dixon (a pen name for a stable of largely uncredited writers hired by the Stratemeyer Syndicate publishing company), which debuted in 1927 and remained popular for several decades.

Those who are nostalgic for the kind of clean, wholesome family entertainment created by Disney in the 50s and 60s should also derive great satisfaction from this modest but appealing preteen-oriented serial, filmed mostly on elaborately-rendered soundstage sets depicting the Hardys' entire neighborhood, the Applegate estate, and other Bayport locations.

 

It's just the sort of thing to feed into the adventure fantasies of young boys of the era: Frank and Joe Hardy, sons of famous private detective Fenton Hardy, live in the picket-fence suburbs of the small, mostly quiet town of Bayport, but yearn to be detectives like their father and join him in solving mysteries.

But their father, who's often away from home because of his job, doesn't approve of such dangerous doings, and neither does their spinster Aunt Gertrude, who lives with them and keeps a tight rein on the boys.

Despite this, however, Frank and Joe manage to sneak away from the house often enough to get involved in the mystery of eccentric old Silas Applegate and the fortune in pirate gold that's said to be hidden somewhere on his property, perhaps even behind the wall of a crumbling old tower that looms over his estate, and is sought after by a range of unsavory types.

 

 

In order to appeal to young viewers of "The Mickey Mouse Club", Frank and Joe are a year or so younger here than in the books, their ages ranging from about 12-14. The older Frank is played by Tim Considine, already popular from Disney's "Spin and Marty" series, and the role of younger, more impetuous Joe is the official debut of new Disney star Tommy Kirk, whose considerable acting skills are apparent in his often intense and frenetic performance.

Frank and Joe are typical, identifiable boys for that era, with their flattop haircuts, T-shirts, jeans with the cuffs rolled up, and sneakers--ideal role models to stimulate the vivid imaginations and wish fulfillment fantasies of Disney's young audience.

For female viewers, there's the Hardys' friend Iola Morton, who has a desperate crush on the girl-hating Joe and manages to get herself involved in all the boys' adventures.  Iola is brought to vivid life by the cute-as-a-button Carole Ann Campbell, who had a regrettably brief film and TV career before losing interest in Hollywood and moving on. 

 

Fenton Hardy's character is somewhat changed from the books. To me, he was always a distinguished, quietly dependable and capable Hugh Beaumont type. Here, Russ Conway brings him to the screen as a rather frumpy, almost seedy private detective who lacks empathy with his boys and fails to realize their potential as his successors until it is demonstrated to him.

Oddly, the TV show omits Mrs. Hardy and gives us their Aunt Gertrude (Sarah Selby) as a sort of surrogate mother, considerably softening her literary image as a nagging harridan (I always pictured her as a stern Edna Mae Oliver type). This was done with the belief that it was more acceptable for the boys to disobey their aunt than their mother when sneaking out to pursue their detective work.

The story itself takes its own sweet time unfolding over the series' 19 chapters, as the Hardys deal with crotchety old Mr. Applegate (Florenz Ames), his burly caretaker and plumber Jackley (Robert Foulk), wrongly-accused reform school refugee Perry Robinson (Donald McDonald), and slippery, mischievous ex-convict Boles (Arthur Shields, brother of actor Barry Fitzgerald who appeared with him in John Ford's THE QUIET MAN).

 

Boles may have knowledge of the treasure's whereabouts, Jackley may be crookeder than he seems, cutlass-wielding old Applegate is possibly quite mad, and the whole affair stretches out in unremarkable but quite pleasant fashion until finally Frank and Joe cut through the murky mystery with their burgeoning detective skills and solve the whole thing in a moodily-photographed final chapter that puts them in a modest amount of actual danger.

I don't know if today's kids would have the patience, the desire, or even the ability to get carried along by this kind of low-key, unsensationalistic entertainment. I hope they do, lest they miss something that's actually quite rare and wonderful in its own way. For me, "The Hardy Boys: The Mystery of the Applegate Treasure" is sweet, soulful nostalgia in its purest and most potent form.

 

THE HARDY BOYS: THE MYSTERY OF THE APPLEGATE TREASURE -- Serial Review by Porfle

THE SWAN PRINCESS: ROYALLY UNDERCOVER -- DVD Review by Porfle

 

Originally posted on 3/27/17

 

I'm not that big a fan of the endless parade of digital "cartoons" these days, but that doesn't mean I can't enjoy an engaging and pleasantly-rendered romp like THE SWAN PRINCESS: ROYALLY UNDERCOVER (2017) when it comes my way. 

Directed by former Disney animation director Richard Rich, it's the sixth direct-to-video sequel to his 1994 theatrical film THE SWAN PRINCESS which was done with old-school handpainted cel animation (which I sorely miss) as were the first three sequels. 

The main characters of that film were a beautiful princess named Odette and a handsome prince named Derek.  In the current sequels, they're older, married, and have an adopted daughter, Princess Alise. 

She and her friend Lucas, a shy peasant boy living with his parents on a tulip farm, are the new focus of our attention as they have colorful adventures in and around their mythical kingdom.  Here, they go undercover as spies to find out if ditzy Queen Uberta's dashing young suitor, a Count from a nearby kingdom, is really as nice as he seems or if he has ulterior motives that could threaten the entire kingdom and its royal family.

Alise and Lucas are the typical spunky, likable kids who get in and out of trouble by their own wits and also with the help of their talking animal friends.  Their grown-up ally is a grandfatherly Lord Rogers, an inventor with a secret subterranean vault full of cool steampunk spy gadgets.  He's sort of a Hans Conried type with the look of a sage old gentleman but the heart of a child, and he secretly loves the Queen.

Aside from some shots of him, the kids, and their animal friends wearing shades and walking in slo-mo RESERVOIR DOGS style (to accentuate the "spy" theme), there are refreshingly few "nudge-nudge" modern references barring a rather spectacular nod to GOLDENEYE in the pre-titles sequence. 

Moreover, this film really is G-rated, with no smirky double-entendres or unwelcome sexual innuendos of the kind that crop up in much of the so-called "childrens" entertainment these days.  Everything remains resolutely juvenile throughout--in a good way.

Adults should find it more than tolerable, especially in the second half when the kids infiltrate the Count's castle and all that spy stuff starts to pay off in a big way.  Alise and Lucas encounter a number of bad guys and dangerous situations, and the action and suspense are pretty much nonstop.

At this point in the series, the songs (what few there are) aren't that special and there are no celebrity character voiceovers, but I doubt if kids will really mind all that much. 

Characters are genuinely warm and caring toward each other, and the story puts forth various benevolent themes of togetherness, teamwork, and charity (a neighboring kingdom damaged by a flood receives emergency aid) in unobtrusive ways. "Don't trust kindly strangers bearing chocolate" is another subtle message.

The DVD from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment is in 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen with Dolby 5.1 sound in English and French, and Dolby Surround in Mandarin, Korean, Spanish, and Thai.  Subtitles are available.  In addition to several trailers for other Sony kids' films, there's a brief featurette with singer Macy Kate recording the end titles song.

Online comments from fans of the series indicate that some feel THE SWAN PRINCESS: ROYALLY UNDERCOVER is inferior to its predecessors.  But it's such a colorful and brightly entertaining diversion that, not having seen any of the earlier ones, I found this sequel quite enjoyable.

THE SWAN PRINCESS: ROYALLY UNDERCOVER -- DVD Review by Porfle

RAGS TO RICHES: THE COMPLETE SERIES -- DVD Review by Porfle

 

Originally posted on 6/13/12

 

A weird conglomeration of teen period musical, teen family drama, teen family sitcom, adult dramedy, and all-around idiocy, NBC-TV's RAGS TO RICHES: THE COMPLETE SERIES (1987-88) comes to DVD in a five-disc, 20-episode set that's like a grueling marathon of sheer teen "WTF?"

Actually it isn't totally bad once you get used to it, but getting used to it is a pretty major undertaking.  What we have here is Joseph Bologna (MY FAVORITE YEAR) as frozen foods tycoon Nick Foley, a "streetwise" New Jersey-born playboy circa 1961 who wants to improve his public image by temporarily adopting six orphan girls aged 8-17.  Naturally, their initial culture clashes and personality conflicts will evolve into mutual love and understanding as the odd sextet become a family, with everyone learning and growing and all that good stuff.

The movie-length pilot (which, for some reason, is called "Rags and Riches" and looks like a crudely-edited workprint) gives us six downtrodden Annies in search of a Daddy Warbucks while the hateful old spinster in charge of them threatens to ship them all off to juvy hall.  After being adopted by Nick--on the advice of his young assistant, played by an embryonic, Gumby-haired Bill Maher--their rough adjustment to the lap of luxury is complicated when they discover that Nick and his loathesome fiance' have planned to ship the girls off to a strict boarding school ASAP. 

Choosing what they consider the lesser of two evils, they run back to the orphanage, whereupon Nick realizes how much he now loves them and can't live without them.  He goes to the orphange to fetch them home, thus setting the stage for seemingly endless adventures in adolescent angst which often escalates to nightmarish proportions.  (The sixth girl, Heather McAdam as "Nina", disappears from the cast after the pilot.)

While "Brady Bunch"-type comedy abounds along with several of its plotlines (in one episode, 13-year-old Patti's big science project is--you guessed it--a volcano), a big factor here is broad, relentlessly overplayed drama.  Particularly in the earlier episodes, these young actresses are so doggedly intense that their scenes resemble really bad drama class exercises, with future "Martin" co-star Tisha Campbell as Marva often being the most freakishly overwrought. 

Not only that, but their characters often come across as total spoiled bitches, constantly screaming their lungs out at Nick and each other before stomping offscreen and slamming doors.  A typical example:  "Blah blah blah!!!  I am not going to [whatever Nick has told her to do] and there's nothing you can do about it!!!"  STOMP STOMP STOMP!!!  SLAM!!! 

Even as late as episode 12 ("Wilderness Blues"), Nick's insistence that they go camping as a family leads to his being mercilessly harangued day and night, to such an extent that I wouldn't have blamed him for lobbing a live grenade into the girls' tent after lights-out.  Of course, strong-willed Marva runs away to be with her college-aged boyfriend the moment Nick turns his back, ranting and fuming the whole time, while Rose (Kimiko Gelman, THE HUNGER GAMES) and ditzy blonde Diane (Bridget Michele) sneak off to attend a dance at the lodge. 

Later episodes begin to show a promise that the series' second-season cancellation would cut short.  "Dear Diary" features Robin Curtis ("Lt. Saavik" in THE SEARCH FOR SPOCK) as an unconventional teacher whom conservative dad Dick Van Patten wants fired for being an unhealthy influence on her students.  "Born to Ride" guest-stars David Paymer (GET SHORTY) as a con man faking an injury to gain insurance money after supposedly being hit by novice driver Diane. 

The final episode, "Sweet Sixteen", ends the series on a high note as the Cuban Missile Crisis drives the Foley's into their newly-built bomb shelter and those of us old enough to remember get to relive what the whole atomic bomb scare was like, complete with elementary school kids participating in "duck and cover" drills.  The song-and-dance stuff is mercifully toned down in this one, and we get the idea that the show might have actually evolved into something pretty worthwhile if allowed to continue. 

High points aside, however, much of "Rags to Riches" is business-as-usual dumb stuff straight outta Bradyville but with loads of bratty attitude that Mike and Carol never had to contend with.  In "Business is Business", Marva buys her own lunch wagon against Nick's advice and then, when the endeavor goes south, immediately drives it to a secluded area and douses it with gasoline so she can torch it and collect the insurance!  (Fabian and Ken "Eddie Haskell" Osmond guest star as her unscrupulous competitors.) 

"Foley vs. Foley" is the old saw of the girls protesting the closing of lovable Spiro's (Jack Kruschen) hamburger joint to make way for the new Foley building complex.  "Hunk in the House" has Rose and Diane both falling for Nick's visiting godson, played by a young Richard Grieco.  "Marva in the Key of Cee" is the show's version of the Marcia Brady-Davy Jones affair, but with Marva promising to get retired torch singer Cee Cee Smith (Margaret Avery, THE COLOR PURPLE) to sing at the prom without actually asking her first.  "Partridge Family" alumnus Danny Bonaduce shows up in "Guess Who's Coming To Slumber?", the old story of the illicit party that gets horribly out of control while Nick is due to return from a trip at any minute.

"Vegas Rock" and "Once Upon a Lifeguard" play up the girls' sexuality in borderline inappropriate ways.  In the former, they secretly follow Nick to Las Vegas because, as usual, they do whatever they damn well please, and end up performing onstage in showgirl costumes.  In the latter, Patti's desire to impress a hunky older lifeguard has her sashaying around in skimpy bathing suits and stuffing her bra to Mae West proportions.  (Future porn actor Scott Schwartz of A CHRISTMAS STORY guest stars.)  While this is ostensibly meant to draw in potential teen male viewers, it sometimes comes off as a tad creepy. 

For better or worse, however, what really sets "Rags to Riches" apart from other shows of its ilk is the fact that it's a musical.  This means that the girls break into song and dance numbers at the drop of a plot twist, and more often than not they're blaring, sassy-brassy covers of 50s-60s tunes (their lyrics altered to fit the storylines, as when "Please Mr. Postman" becomes "Hey, Mr. Foley") with lots of head jerking, hand jiving, arm flailing, and generally obnoxious choreography that would embarrass even Paula Abdul.  Even the youngest sister Mickey (played by perhaps the best actress of the bunch, 8-year-old Heidi Zeigler) gets into the act with her saxophone, which we're supposed to believe she can play like a pint-sized Tom Scott. 

When this happens, the girls suddenly turn into hopped-up speed-freak versions of the Pointer Sisters for a couple of minutes before going back to what they were doing as though nothing had happened.  As if that weren't bad enough, Joseph Bologna and Douglas Seale (as their overly-cutesy British butler, Clapper) sometimes add their rusty pipes to the mix.  On the rare occasions that a slow ballad is required, the girls display some pretty nice singing voices, as when Patti (Blanca De Garr) and Rose duet on "Anyone Who Had A Heart."  Some of the songs are anachronistic ("You're No Good", "Get Ready") considering the show's early 60s time frame, but since the whole thing's a fantasy anyway I suppose it doesn't really matter.

The 5-disc set (running time 18 hrs. 20 min.) from Image Entertainment has an aspect ratio of 1.33.1 with Dolby Digital sound.  There are no subtitles or extras.

Much of RAGS TO RICHES: THE COMPLETE SERIES finds Joseph Bologna struggling to figure out just how the hell to play this kind of teen-oriented nonsense while his young female costars chew up the scenery like a school of ravenous singing and dancing piranha.  And just when they all seem to be on the verge of finding their way, the party's over.  While I can't wholeheartedly recommend it as actual entertainment, I must say that this bizarre patchwork creation is one of the most perversely interesting train wrecks I've seen in a long time.

RAGS TO RICHES: THE COMPLETE SERIES -- DVD Review by Porfle

"WIZARD OF OZ" Blooper: Dorothy's Ruby Slippers Disappear (MGM, 1939)

Glinda the Good Witch warns Dorothy to never remove her magic ruby slippers.

But in the scene with the talking apple trees, there's a brief moment in which Dorothy is wearing...her regular black shoes.

Don't let the Wicked Witch catch you without those ruby slippers, Dorothy!


I neither own nor claim any rights to this material. Just having some fun with it. Thanks for watching!

"WIZARD OF OZ" Blooper: Dorothy's Ruby Slippers Disappear (MGM, 1939)

THE WIZARD OF OZ 3D: 75TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION (Blu-ray 3D/ Blu-ray/ Digital HD) -- Review by Porfle

 (Originally posted in 2013)

 

When I was a kid, the annual airing of the 1939 classic "The Wizard of Oz" on network primetime TV was almost as highly-anticipated a yearly tradition as Halloween or even Christmas.  Kids such as myself would scramble to get all their worldly affairs in order and move heaven and earth to make sure they were securely situated in front of a TV set, with no distractions, when that MGM lion roared and Oscar-winning composer Herb Stothart's familiar fanfare blared forth in all its glory.

Of course, we had to watch it right then and there because that was our only chance, and we knew it wouldn't come around for another year.  Now, however, you ungrateful young whippersnappers have the luxury of popping in Warner Brothers' snazzy new Blu-Ray 3D/ Blu-Ray/ Digital HD combo set THE WIZARD OF OZ 3D: 75TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION.   It even has a pulse-poundin' 3D cover pic and everything! 

But aside from how brand spanking new it looks and sounds in this latest Blu-Ray edition (which it does) or how cool it must look in 3D for you luckies who have 3D players (which I don't), the film itself is still the main prize.   Arguably the most beloved motion picture ever made, "The Wizard of Oz" set the Technicolor standard for opulent film musicals that has yet to be surpassed.  Some describe it as "the perfect movie"--indeed, it's practically beyond criticism no matter how many IMDb trolls snipe about how "boring" or "dated" they imagine any classic from the 1900s to be.  Few films are still this delightfully fresh and downright stunning almost 75 years after their initial release.  

The 16-year-old Judy Garland is extraordinarily endearing in her sincere, earnest  performance as Kansas farmgirl Dorothy Gale, who,  threatened by hateful neighbor Miss Gulch (Margaret Hamilton) to have her beloved dog Toto destroyed, runs away from the home where she lives with her Aunt Em and Uncle Henry.  After a kindly traveling fortune teller named Professor Marvel (Frank Morgan) persuades her to return home, she does so just in time to encounter a raging tornado that knocks her unconscious, sending her on a dream journey over the rainbow to the fairytale land of Oz.

Despite the many wonders she finds there, Dorothy's only wish is to get back home.  A good witch named Glinda (Billie Burke) advises her to follow the yellow brick road to the Emerald City,  where the wonderful Wizard of Oz may be able to help her.  Along  the way she makes friends with a scarecrow who wishes for a brain, a tin man who desires a heart, and a cowardly lion seeking the courage he lacks.  But before granting their wishes, the Wizard demands that they prove their worthiness by bringing him the broomstick of the dreaded Wicked Witch of the West, the most evil and fearsome creature in all of Oz.

The bleak and moody depictions of a flat gray Kansas landscape (its evocative, almost impressionistic interior sets are all dusty plains and miles of wire fences and telephone poles) immediately get "The Wizard of Oz" off to a heady start visually.  Dorothy gains our sympathy by being a typical teen who yearns to experience life but is all but ignored by the adults around her.  Her song, "Over the Rainbow", is both an amazing display of the youthful Judy Garland's mature vocal talent and an emotional highpoint for the film's misty-eyed fans.

Before we've even gotten out of Kansas comes one of the most thrilling special effects sequences of all time.   They made a whole movie filled with CGI tornadoes back in 1996 but not one of them could match the awe-inspiring sight of that one monstrous cyclone bearing down on Dorothy's tiny farmhouse as she scrambles for shelter.  Indeed, this segment of the film rivals 1933's "King Kong" as a breathtaking tour-de-force of sheer special-effects audacity.

After a dazzling switch-over from sepia to Technicolor, what follows in the "Oz" scenes is a succession of musical setpieces that are among the most whimsical and enchanting ever conceived for the screen.  Dorothy's encounter with the Munchkins (played by the Singer Midgets) is a delight, as are her encounters with the Scarecrow (rubber-limbed dancer Ray Bolger),  the Tin Woodsman (Jack Haley, Jr.), and the Cowardly Lion (Bert Lahr), and their joyous arrival in the Emerald City--all carried along by the infinitely memorable songs of Harold Arlen and E.Y. Harburg.

The visuals exude a richly atmospheric fairytale quality which, just like the illustrations in the original L. Frank Baum books, is inspired by the old European tales but with a distinctly American flavor.  (This is reflected also in Bert Lahr's very Brooklynesque lion with his amusingly lowbrow vaudevillian schtick.)  A combination of colorful painted backdrops, sumptuous matte paintings, and elaborate sets, the backdrops for Dorothy's adventures are always a feast for the eyes.

Nowhere is this more evident than in the climactic sequence in the foreboding mountaintop castle of the Wicked Witch of the West.  If "The Wizard of Oz" is a journey through Dorothy's subconscious mind, then this segment of the film must surely be, from a child's point of view, the most terrifying Freudian nightmare ever filmed. 

Captured by the Witch's bizarre army of  flying monkeys (another impressive practical effect), Dorothy's life is first measured by the sands of an hourglass ("See that?  That's how long you've got to be alive!  And it isn't long, my pretty--it isn't long!") and then by one of the most potent threats ever leveled in a children's film: "The last to go will see the first three go before her...and her mangy little dog, too!"  A considerable amount of suspense and excitement are generated in this sequence as Dorothy's three reluctant friends conquer their imagined inadequacies and attempt to rescue her.

Here, Margaret Hamilton plays her part to the hilt and is the quintessential wicked witch in one of the movie's two (at least) Oscar-level performances.  The other, of course, is that of Judy Garland,  who did receive an honorary Oscar that year for her body of work up to and including "The Wizard of Oz."  Judy is wonderfully natural and appealing in the role, and much more realistic than Shirley Temple, whom MGM originally wanted,  would have been.  It's easy for kids to identify with her because of this natural quality,  while Temple's more artificial cuteness appeals mainly to adults.

The Blu-ray 3D/ Blu-ray/ Digital HD combo from Warner Brothers is in 16x9 widescreen with 5.1 Dolby sound and original mono.  There's an entertaining and informative new documentary,  "The Making of the Wonderful Wizard of Oz", that lasts over an hour, plus original and re-release trailers, various radio programs (one is an adaptation of the film itself), extensive photo galleries, and a "jukebox" containing songs and musical cues including alternate and interrupted takes. 

Reappearing from the earlier 70th Anniversary Edition is a commentary track hosted by Sydney Pollack and featuring Oz historian John Fricke along with archival cast and crew comments, an animated storybook condensation of Baum's original book narrated by Angela Lansbury,  a brief biographical sketch of each of the leads (Toto, too!) entitled "We Haven't Really Met Properly",  a music and effects track, and a sing-along song menu.

Like "Star Wars", the later watershed film classic that it partially inspired, THE WIZARD OF OZ remains a marvel of thrilling special-effects wizardry and all-around cinematic creativity that no amount of CGI could ever surpass.  More importantly, though, it's one of the most engaging, heartfelt, and purely sentimental adventures to ever grace the silver screen.  With a simple beauty that still evokes tears of joy in its fans, this beloved classic demonstrates that not only is there "no place like home", but that in each of us lies wisdom, compassion,  and courage if we but look for it. 

THE WIZARD OF OZ 3D: 75TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION (Blu-ray 3D/ Blu-ray/ Digital HD) -- Review by Porfle

THE WITCHES OF OZ -- DVD review by porfle

 

Originally posted on 4/8/12

 

Fans of L. Frank Baum's celebrated Oz series never know what they're going to get in the way of screen adaptations.  They're either bright and whimsical with some deliciously dark touches (like the 1939 classic THE WIZARD OF OZ) or they play up the more bizarre and nightmarish aspects of the books (as in RETURN TO OZ).  Or, in the case of THE WITCHES OF OZ (2011), you get a confusing mish-mash of both styles along with various other fantasy and comic book elements.

This rambling saga (originally televised in two parts) starts out with a LORD OF THE RINGS-style prologue which gives the impression that we're in for a more solemn, Hobbity type of myth-fantasy than the chintzy, cartoonish fairytale that follows.  I think that may be what writer-director Leigh Scott was partially aiming for here, but aside from the scenes with Lance Henriksen as Uncle Henry and Jeffrey Combs as L. Frank Baum--two actors not known for their lighthearted frivolity--it's just too goofy to take that seriously.

Paulie Rojas' Dorothy is like an even more girly and saccharine version of Marlo Thomas' "That Girl" with traces of Didi Conn and Pee Wee Herman.  Wide-eyed and wincingly naive, Dorothy moves from Kansas to New York at the request of gorgeous literary agent Billie Westbrook (Eliza Swenson, who also co-produced and, bless her heart, composed the music) in order to publish her "Oz" stories which were begun by her grandfather "Frank."  But Billie turns out to be the Wicked Witch of the West, and Dorothy's Oz fantasies are really repressed memories of actual experiences that the witch wants to mine for information about a certain key to open a certain very powerful book of spells.

Much of the New York stuff is an awkward attempt to mix kid-friendly fantasy with real-world decadence, with references to "ass-kissing" and "sexing it up a little", terms such as "S.O.B.", and Dorothy being both leered at by a cabbie while changing clothes in the backseat and practically raped by a mugger.  At times, the effect of this clash of sensibilities is not unlike sipping on a bourbon and Kool-Aid cocktail.

During the first hour or so, Dorothy orients herself to big-city life and acquires a love interest--LOTR's Billy Boyd as funny-Scottish flake "Nick Chopper"--while Billie and her cohorts scheme to get the key from her.  With her flowing black hair, knockout bod, and what could only be described as a serious "legs" thing, Eliza Swenson owns the role and gives us an idea of what the '39 film might have been like if they'd gone ahead and cast Gale Sondergaard as the Witch instead of Margaret Hamilton (although Hamilton's likeness and acting style are closely imitated whenever Billie witches out).  The now-MILFy Mia Sara of FERRIS BUELLER fame is a hoot as Billie's wickedly cute but not-too-smart toady Princess Langwidere, who collects heads to wear the way other women collect shoes.

The story is at its best when it maintains a consistent tone for awhile, such as in the extended Kansas sequence that comes about halfway.  Here, we learn some interesting surprises about Dorothy's past as the film quits being tinny and insipid for awhile and comes closest to having an actual heart.  There's a recreation of Dorothy's journey to Oz inside the cyclone which, aside from proving that the '39 film's effects are still better than crappy CGI, finally lets us see the Wicked Witch of the East get crushed by that house while she and a Valkyrie-like Glinda the Good Witch (Noel Thurman) are trading magical destructo beams like a couple of Marvel superheroines.

A lot happens during the chaotic final hour when the Wicked Witch unleashes her evil minions, including some Flying Gorillas and, oddly, Lewis Carroll's Jabberwock, in an all-out war on New York City.  Some of it marginally cool, with the rest of the familiar Oz characters such as Scarecrow, Lion, and Tin Man losing their human fascades and regaining their true personas in order to engage the forces of evil in battle. 

Much of it, however, is just frenetic, confusing, and, finally, long-winded--especially when Dorothy attempts to "Oprah Winfrey" the Wicked Witch into turning away from the dark side.  Some of the more slapdash battle footage look
s like outtakes from a bad superhero flick like Shaqille O'Neal's STEEL, with the Tin Man resembling a cross between a robot and the original Iron Man.  There's even some mild gore as one of Princess Langwidere's interchangable heads explodes and another gets run over by a truck, and one mano-a-mano encounter ends, strangely enough, with a beheading that recalls the knife-to-the-chest scene in SAVING PRIVATE RYAN! 

Christopher Lloyd plays the Wizard like he's doing dinner theater for an easy-to-please audience, while Lance Henriksen's Uncle Henry comes across like an anvil on a trampoline.  Top honors go to Swenson and Sara for their wickedly winsome witches, along with Sasha Jackson as one of Princess Langwidere's alter egos.  Sean Astin and Ethan Embry earn a few laughs as the diminutive Muckadoos, ordered by Langwidere to bedevil Dorothy but more interested in raiding her refrigerator.  Billy Boyd is at his "I'm Scottish!" cutest here--whether or not that's a good thing is up to you. 

The DVD from Image Entertainment is in 1.78:1 widescreen with Dolby 5.1 sound and subtitles in English and Spanish.  Extras consist of a trailer and a trailer-length "behind the scenes" featurette.

While somewhat fun to watch if you can manage to settle into its goofball vibe, THE WITCHES OF OZ is "magical" in a curdled, insincere sort of way that makes it too distasteful for kids and too sickly-sweet for adults.  Oz fans who have to watch everything Oz-related will probably have to watch this, but there's a snowball's chance in Hell of it making a dent in their undying affection for a certain Judy Garland vehicle.

THE WITCHES OF OZ -- DVD review by porfle

The Marilyn (Patch) Arnone Interview

 

[NOTE: This interview originally appeared in October 2007 at Bumscorner.com. Since being reposted here on HK and Cult Film News in 2009, it has remained one our most consistently popular items. )

 

If you're a Howdy Doody fan, you might know her better as Marilyn Patch, who played Doodyville schoolteacher "Happy Harmony" on "The New Howdy Doody Show" for 130 episodes back in '76. Dr. Marilyn Arnone has been doing her part to educate kids in entertaining ways ever since she hosted her own children's show called "Marilyn and Calico" at the age of eleven. (Hmm...I think I built a birdhouse out of a milk carton when I was eleven, but then I blew it up with some firecrackers.)

Dr. Arnone is a Harvard grad with a PHd who is currently the director of educational media for Syracuse University's Center for Digital Literacy, in addition to being co-founder and president of Creative Media Solutions. I had such a blast recently watching and reviewing the DVD set "Say Kids, What Time Is It? It's Howdy Doody Time: The Lost Episodes" that I was compelled to hurl a few pertinent interrogatives at her, which she was nice enough to answer--after all, she's "Happy Harmony"!--and you can enjoy the results right here, right now. So, come on, Peanuts! To Doodyville...and beyond!


porfle: How in the world did you manage to land your very own Saturday morning children's show at age 11?

Marilyn: I used to go around the neighborhood asking neighbors if I could show them my puppet act. When they invited me in, I'd get behind a big chair and pull out my brown sock puppet (Calico, the Texican Donkey) and start talking to it. They probably thought I was a little weird but harmless. Then, finally, I got my parents to take me to meet some people at WHDH-TV in Boston, the CBS affiliate at the time. We did a pilot and then the show.

porfle: Is this what first interested you in the potential of using television to help kids learn?

Marilyn: Not at that point, but after I graduated from high school and contemplated college, I knew that's what I wanted to do. Now, I am involved more in digital media and learning doing more with the Web but it still uses some of my old skills with television. I love kids. I feel I am doing something I like and making some kind of contribution at the same time.

porfle: Didn't you appear as a contestant on "What's My Line?"

Marilyn: Yes, but Dorothy Kilgallen was the the first one to interview me and she guessed me without too much problem (that I was the youngest person in Boston to have her own TV show). I recently saw the clip and you should have seen the expression on my face, total amazement and disbelief. Guess Mr. Daly felt badly for me and flipped over all the cards anyway which meant I won all the money. A whopping $50.00! With the extra time left, they asked me to sing a verse from a song. I chose my parents' original song "We Wish We Had It But We Ain't"--a song they wrote during the Depression!

porfle: Your talent for ventriloquism is impressive. Can you tell us a little something about this art and how you happened to pick it up?

Marilyn: Well, when I was 8 or 9, Shari Lewis had her own show. She became one of my idols. I thought she was so beautiful and talented. I watched her carefully and the rest was self-taught.

porfle: What did you do between "Marilyn and Calico" and "Howdy Doody"?

Marilyn: I graduated junior high school and high school. Got married. Had a baby boy, Sean. Went to college and got a bachelor's degree from Emerson College.

porfle: How did you come to join the cast of "The New Howdy Doody Show"? Did you create the "Happy Harmony" character or had it already been established?

Marilyn: The character of Happy Harmony was already written up in the prospectus for "The New Howdy Doody Show." I heard about the auditions in NYC and went for the try-outs. I was able to do a little of everything, sing, dance, play the guitar, puppeteer, and act so I think that helped me a bit.

porfle: What was it like working with Buffalo Bob and Clarabell?

Marilyn: It was some of the most fun times I've had! They always kept things interesting. They taught me this funny gibberish-type language so we could communicate anywhere and no one would know what we were saying. They swore me to secrecy but my daughter, Alexis, actually figured it out after a while. Buffalo Bob used cue cards but I never did. He was a master of cue cards, I was not. So, I memorized everything and went into rehearsals prepared. Bob didn't have much patience for re-takes.

Lew Anderson who played Clarabell was so nice, with a dry sense of humor. He always kept me laughing. And he was so very talented as a musician, writer, and arranger. He loved his Big Band! I loved going to work at the studio because we had such a tight cast and crew. Everyday was interesting and different.

porfle: Wasn't some of it pre-taped, especially the backstage scenes?

Marilyn: Yes, all the backstage scenes were taped at a different time than when the live audience was there.

porfle: Did any unfortunate or embarrassing mishaps ever occur during taping that didn't end up on the air? I'd love to see a "Howdy Doody" blooper reel.

Marilyn: All the time. So much fun. I'd love to see the blooper reel myself again. This wasn't exactly a blooper because the crew planned this trick on me but for me, it was a blooper because I wasn't expecting what happened...OK, the director, Errol Falcon, and the crew had planned this scene where everyone was getting squirted by Clarabell and they got to me and I said something like "I always like it when somebody else gets squirted by Clarabell!" at which point someone on the catwalk dropped a bucket of water on my head.

Ok, I was expecting that. What I was NOT expecting was that on the heels of the bucket of water dropping on my head, I was pounded with a pie in the face. Now, that expression was priceless! Guess they thought that if I knew it was coming, it wouldn't have looked as funny! Good thing I'm a good sport!

porfle: Aren't you skilled with marionettes yourself? How much of this did you get to do on the show?

Marilyn: I was a puppeteer (hand and rod puppets) before the show but had never done marionettes. They sent me to New London, Connecticut, to work with Margo Rose to learn to operate marionettes. I loved it! It took a lot of practice because these were long-stringed marionettes that had to be operated from a high puppet bridge. It was an honor to have Margo Rose work with me like that.

porfle: How much input did you have in the "Happy Harmony" character, regarding songs, storylines, etc.?

Marilyn: None for the most part. However, they did let me do a little ventriloquist bit using one of my own puppets sitting in the audience one time. That was fun.

porfle: By the 70s, weren't some of the kids in the Peanut Gallery a little jaded toward something as simple and innocent as "Howdy Doody"? Sometimes it looks like their baby-boomer parents are having the most fun.

Marilyn: Probably!

porfle: What's the story on the show's bandleader, Jackie Davis? Not only was he funny, but he played a mean Hammond organ.

Marilyn: He was super-talented and a pleasure to work with. Always upbeat and funny.

porfle: During a show, was it easy to find yourself relating to the marionettes as actual performers?

Marilyn: It was easy for me because I could get into character and forget about the fact that
Pady Blackwood, the master puppeteer, was doing all the magic above!

porfle: Mayor Phineas T. Bluster cracks me up. Can a marionette's performance be so funny that you lose it during a scene?

Marilyn: Oh yes, especially when Nick Nicholson or Bob would ad-lib with the puppets but that was mostly during rehearsals. Bluster used to say things to me sometimes and I'd blush. Like he was a dirty old man. Pady Blackwood was quick enough to make the puppet look like it was coming right out of his mouth. Mr. Bluster used to be the one that cracked us up the most during rehearsals--you just never knew what he was going to say.

porfle: There's no getting around it--"Happy Harmony" was very cute. Did she ever get any "fan mail" from older male viewers?

Marilyn: Ah....yep.

porfle: How was "The New Howdy Doody Show" received by audiences and critics at the time?

Marilyn: Unfortunately, it didn't have a long run.

porfle: You went on to do the "Pappyland" series in the 90s. The IMDb page for it shows that it still has quite a few devoted fans. Was it a good experience?

Marilyn: It was also a very good experience. My former business partner, MariRae Dopke, and I ran the production company that produced and edited the show. We were co-producers. Mike Cariglio, who played Pappy, is immensely talented as an artist and he learned to make puppets, too. I love working in the studio and miss the fun we had on that show.

porfle: How are the requirements for an effective children's television show different now than they were in the 70s? Or the 50s, for that matter?

Marilyn: You still have to gain and sustain attention but today, programs have to have more
educational value and funders are looking for outcome-based evaluation, a plan for assessing whether kids have actually changed in knowledge, skills, attitude as a result of regular viewing. There is also the Children's Television Act which makes providing quality children's programming a condition of license renewal so that's good.

porfle: What's wrong with some of the children's programming you've seen? "Barney", for example.

Marilyn: Some of it is good but there's room for improvement, of course. Let's save this for
another interview. This could take a while!

Buy "Say Kids What Time Is It? It's Howdy Doody Time:The Lost Episodes" at Amazon.com

The Marilyn (Patch) Arnone Interview

HEIDI (2015) -- DVD Review by Porfle

 

Originally posted on 3/25/17

 

Before, whenever I heard the name "Heidi", I thought of Shirley Temple being cute, or a children's book that I never read, or, most infamously, an American Football League game between the Oakland Raiders and the New York Jets on November 17, 1968 which, during an intensely suspenseful fourth quarter, was suddenly interrupted by NBC for the premiere of a brand new "Heidi" TV-movie, causing frenzied football fans all along the East Coast to tear their hair out in utter, gibbering consternation.

But that was before.  Now, having just seen the latest Swedish film adaptation of Johanna Spyri's 1881 children's book HEIDI (2015), not only has my perception of the story gone up considerably, but you might even call me a fan.  At least, a fan of this wonderfully rendered and exquisitely produced version.

Anuk Steffen is disarmingly endearing in the title role as a young orphan girl pawned off on her gruff grandfather by an uncaring aunt. Grandfather is played by Bruno Ganz, known mainly these days as Adolf Hitler in DOWNFALL (2004) thanks to all those "Hitler Reacts" video memes on the internet.

 

Here, he convincingly plays an old hermit living on a mountaintop in the Swiss Alps who rejects the child at first but eventually warms up to and then learns to love her.

The mountain sequences are dazzling with their beautiful locations and photography, whether during the lush green spring and summer or the frosty snow of winter.  Heidi frolics almost as a feral child, accompanying her young friend Peter during his daily goatherding duties or just hanging out with and gradually humanizing the once misanthropic old man. 

Her happiness is short-lived, however, when mercenary Aunt Dete (Anna Schinz) returns and takes her away to the city to live with a wealthy widower--and mostly absentee father--as a companion to his wheelchair-bound daughter, Klara (Isabelle Ottmann), an arrangment from which the unscrupulous aunt makes a tidy profit.

 

Although Heidi and Klara become fast friends, Heidi's life is made miserable by the stiflingly formal regimen of upper-class life (where she is addressed by her real name, Adelheid) personified by stiff, sadistic governess Miss Rottenmeier (Katharina Schüttler), who more than lives up to her name.

Thus, Heidi's dilemma is that she yearns to escape back to Grandfather and her beautiful mountaintop home but also dreads leaving poor Klara alone in her dreary, joyless existence. 

Director Alain Gsponer (LIFE ACTUALLY) has a very nimble and imaginative style that adapts well to the various settings.  The cinematography is consistently fine, as is the film's musical score. 

While the Swiss Alps provide some incredible eye-candy, even the believably gritty city and village settings are impeccably rendered and totally convincing.  The mansion scenes are suitably oppressive, sort of like a children's story as written by one of the Brontë sisters. I also sense something of a GREYSTOKE vibe at times, so jarring is Heidi's forced transition into so-called civilized life, with a bit of A LITTLE PRINCESS thrown in as well.

The cast are so good at their roles and the script so well-written that Heidi's story is effortlessly engaging from beginning to end.  Her eventual reunion with Grandfather and her precious mountains delivers a well-earned emotional catharsis. 

One of the film's main strengths is that it takes its story seriously--the drama and pathos are realistically handled, and lighthearted moments spring naturally from the situations without seeming forced or artificially cute.

The DVD from Omnibus Entertainment and Film Movement is in 2.40:1 widescreen with 5.1 and 2.0 Dolby surround sound.  Dubbed English or original German with English subtitles are available.  No extras.

I feel now as though I've been missing out on this story all these years, although I can't imagine it being presented in such a realistic and satisfying fashion as it is here.  There's so much more to this version of HEIDI than its innocuous-sounding title might suggest, and it should please both children and the adults who watch it with them to an equal degree. 

HEIDI (2015) -- DVD Review by Porfle

HOODWINKED TOO! HOOD VS. EVIL -- DVD Review by Porfle

Originally posted on 8/10/11

 

I was pretty numb during the first twenty minutes or so of HOODWINKED TOO! HOOD VS. EVIL (2011) with its hyperactive sugar-high action, "girl power" antics, self-consciously hip and overly adult humor, and the kind of rubbery-looking CGI cartoon characters that I'm sorta getting tired of looking at. 

But at a certain point in the story we find out who the real bad guys are, and it's such a neat surprise that I thought, "Okay, I get it now" and started to enjoy this tacky little bag of eye candy.  I still didn't love it, but I didn't hate it anymore, either. 

From that magical children's wonderland known as The Weinstein Company, this relatively low-budget concoction opens with Granny (Glenn Close) and her fellow HEA (Happily Ever After) agents attempting to rescue Hansel and Gretel from the evil witch's gingerbread house before she cooks and eats them.  But without the help of agent Red Riding Hood (Hayden Panettiere), who's off training with the Sisters of the Hood at their mountaintop temple, the mission fails and the witch makes off with the both the children and Granny.



Holding them captive in the Dark Castle Towers hotel, the witch tries to make Granny divulge the secret recipe for the Norwegian Black Forest Feather Cake Truffle Divine, which can make those who eat it super-powerful and invincible.  Meanwhile, Red and Big Bad Wolf (Patrick Warburton) are on the trail along with their caffeine-crazed squirrel sidekick Twitchy, until their endless bickering causes them to split up.  Naturally, they eventually learn to work together and, with the help of numerous friends, save the day.

There's action aplenty as the spunky Red and her friends fight a variety of giant monsters (including an enormous spider), underworld baddies (the scene in the beanstalk giant's glitzy nightclub is fun), murderous hit-pigs with bazookas, and other dark denizens of their skewed fairytale world.  There's so much going on, in fact, that you might get a headache trying to take it all in--even the background extras swarm with extraneous activity.  Much of it, needless to say, is designed to hypnotically dazzle young eyeballs and keep them glued to the screen. 

The oddest thing about HOODWINKED TOO! for me is that it seems like a cross between a kids' film and an underground comic from the 60s that satirizes kids' films.  At the risk of sounding prudish, I remember when movies aimed at ten-year-olds didn't have bathroom humor, drug references ("The 60s were kind of a blur," Granny reveals), and funny-animal characters getting kicked in the nuts.  When the Wolf gets crotch-crunched after being splayed over an iron bar, he groans, "I can taste my own butt." 

A jab at Disney features the words "disgustingly cute" (how dare Uncle Walt make innocuous, non-hip kid flicks that were rated G?)  "Da fan is about to be hit by da doody!" is exclaimed at one point, and when the beanstalk giant (Brad Garrett) lands on a folk-singing goat, the little guy's voice--coming out of the giant's ass, of course--faintly remarks, "I'm in a dark tunnel...and I can smell burritos."  It's funny how the "adult" humor that permeates the script is also the most puerile. 



The film is also loaded with pop culture references that only adults will get, most of whom will have to be over thirty.  Among the TV shows that are spoofed verbally or visually are "Happy Days", "Star Trek", and "Starsky and Hutch."  SILENCE OF THE LAMBS is strongly recalled when Red and Wolf visit the previous film's villain, Boingo Bunny (Andy Dick), in his Lecter-like dungeon cell, while Granny sports the same yellow and black outfit worn by Uma Thurman in KILL BILL VOL. 1.  The idea that the writers expect young viewers of HOODWINKED TOO! to have seen those two films is somewhat distressing. 

Nevertheless, there are so many gags flying around all over the place that some of them are pretty amusing, especially anything involving those strange little German tykes Hansel (Bill Hader) and Gretel (Amy Poehler).  In the meantime, older viewers may enjoy playing "spot the celebrity voice."  Panettiere and Close are okay as Red and Granny, and Warburton gives The Wolf his usual laconic quality.  Joan Cusack instills the witch with the same manic kookiness she brought to ADDAMS FAMILY VALUES. 

The Three Little Henchman Pigs are voiced by Cheech & Chong and Phil Lamarr with predictable results.  Martin Short and Heidi Klum are among the corpulent squad of yodeling mercenaries who aid in Granny's rescue.  David Ogden Stiers plays Nicky Flippers, the frog leader of the HEA, and the beanstalk giant's singing harp, Jimmy 10-Strings, is voiced by Vegas mainstay Wayne Newton (who's starting to look a little like a CGI cartoon character himself).

The two-disc Blu-Ray/DVD combo from Anchor Bay is in 1.78:1 widescreen and Dolby English 5.1 sound.  Subtitles are in English and Spanish.  Extras include "The Voices of Hoodwinked Too!", storyboard comparisons, production artwork, three music videos, and brief videogame teasers.   

I don't watch a lot of these computer-animated cartoons myself--I prefer either cel animation or WALLACE AND GROMIT-style stop-motion--so I can't really compare the effects of HOODWINKED TOO! HOOD VS. EVIL to the recent high-profile examples of the genre churned out by the likes of Pixar and Dreamworks.  What I can say is that although I found it too frenetic and lowbrow at times, I still managed to enjoy it to a certain extent.  But it's not exactly what I'd call a basket of goodies.

HOODWINKED TOO! HOOD VS. EVIL -- DVD Review by Porfle

SPY KIDS 4: ALL THE TIME IN THE WORLD -- DVD Review by Porfle

Originally posted on 11/15/11

 

Am I not supposed to love this movie?  Not according to IMDb's user vote, which currently gives it about a 3 out of 10.  Fortunately, my inner ADD child doesn't read IMDb, and he thinks SPY KIDS 4: ALL THE TIME IN THE WORLD (2011) is like a giant gumball machine of fun which rates way more than that.

Writer-director Robert Rodriguez gives his own inner child free rein here and the result is a consistently inventive and lightning-paced romp packed with just about everything a kid might want to see in a movie.  Not the least of which being the chance to vicariously get swept up in a series of wild spy adventures with a couple of kids--make that Spy Kids--who suddenly find themselves having to save the world.

Rebecca Wilson (Rowan Blanchard), who loves to pull practical jokes, and her twin brother Cecil (Mason Cook), a brainy bookworm, are the typical bickering, competitive siblings.  Their dad Wilbur (Joel McHale) stars in a TV series called "Wilbur Wilson: Spy Hunter" but is unaware that his own wife Marissa (Jessica Alba) is herself a former OSS superspy now retired to take care of their new baby. 



In addition to struggling to connect with her dubious stepkids, Marissa is suddenly called back into action when a supervillain known as the Time Keeper threatens to end the world as we know it by accelerating time.  Needless to say, Rebecca and Cecil eventually end up as OSS agents themselves when the discontinued "Spy Kids" program is reactivated, with Rebecca's prankish ingenuity and Cecil's superior intellect saving the day.

The film opens with a very pregnant Marissa in hot pursuit of the Time Keeper's impish second banana Tick Tock even as her contractions begin, which gives us a good idea of the story's lighthearted and fantastical nature right off the bat.  It also gives us a taste of the endless barrage of cartoony CGI sight gags that will increase exponentially for the rest of the film, climaxing in the Time Keeper's vast clockwork lair with its huge rotating gears and deadly spinning second hand.

Once it gets going, the action never stops.  A surprise attack on the Wilson home by the Timekeeper's henchmen sends Rebecca and Cecil--via prerecorded holographic messages from Marissa--into an elaborate panic room where they hop into rocket-propelled jet luges that whisk them on a screaming aerial joyride to OSS headquarters with the bad guys hot on their tails. This is fun stuff, kids, replete with barf bag bombs (Cecil gets airsick), multiple sight gags, and thrilling special effects, during which their tiny robot dog Argonaut keeps up a steady stream of lowbrow one-liners (Ricky Gervais does a great job voicing the mutt who thinks he's a canine James Bond).

The OSS headquarters turns out to be like a theme park filled with awesome gadgets which the kids avail themselves of before striking out on their own after the Time Keeper.  Eventually the entire Wilson family, including Spy Baby of course, is united in the fight, only to be thwarted by "time bombs", freeze rays, and other unforeseen dangers.  Fans of the first three films will no doubt be pleased to find the original Spy Kids, Carmen (Alexa Vega, looking sharp these days) and Juni (Daryl Sabara), now grown up, joining in the action themselves. 



Rowan Blanchard and Mason Cook are perfect as Rebecca and Cecil and perform like pros while still coming across as real kids.  Not only are they good, natural comic actors but clearly are very directable as well.  McHale and Alba make an appealing couple, with Jessica looking especially fit in a series of skintight spy outfits.  Jeremy Piven, appearing in multiple roles including OSS leader Danger D'Amo, does an outstanding job and is key to making some of the film's more heartfelt moments work.  Speaking of which, the subplot with Marissa trying to fit in as the kids' stepmom is nicely handled, as is the message (non-too-subtle, but this is a kids' movie) about not taking time or family for granted.

The DVD from Anchor Bay is in 1.78:1 widescreen with Dolby Digital 5.1 sound and subtitles in English and Spanish.  Extras include a Robert Rodriguez kid interview, "Spy Kids Passing the Torch" with Alexa Vega and Daryl Sabara, deleted scenes (with Danny Trejo as "Uncle Machete"), "Rowan and Mason's Video Diary", "How to Make a Robotic Dog", "Ricky Gervais as Argonaut", and "Spy Gadgets."  The film is available both as a single DVD and a 4-disc combo pack with Blu-Ray+bonus, DVD+bonus, Blu-Ray 3D, and Digital Copy.

As colorful, fast-moving, and frenetic as any anime or CGI cartoon, SPY KIDS 4: ALL THE TIME IN THE WORLD is the kind of giddy-fun thrill ride of a movie that I wish I'd been able to see as a kid.  Apparently there are some pretty convincing reasons not to like it, judging from its low IMDb rating, but darn if I could find any of them.  I even enjoyed the fart jokes.

SPY KIDS 4: ALL THE TIME IN THE WORLD -- DVD Review by Porfle