Tarzan (1999)

Posted on January 15, 2017January 15, 2017 by simbasible

…………………………………………………………………….

Tarzan Movie Review

Tarzan is a 1999 animated adventure film that is the 37th Disney animated feature film. It is a bit underrated film that is one of my personal favorite Disney flicks.

…………………………………………………………………….

“What am I doing? Captain!

Tell them you never found us!

After all, people get lost in the jungle all the time!“

…………………………………………………………………….

This famous story got a great treatment in the Disney form and truly it just might be the best ever adaptation of the novel. It is such a fun, joyous and charming adventure flick with a couple of genuinely dramatic and heartbreaking moments as well. It flowed mostly really well and it is a well crafted film, albeit a bit too rushed at times.

The ending is most certainly overly happy, but still satisfying. As for the highlights, all of those emotional scenes were the best. For example, the beginning is just breathtakingly beautiful and it just might be Disney’s finest opening, possibly inferior just to the one in ‘The Lion King‘ of course. I loved the sequence in which Tarzan and Jane first met. Beautifully shot, tremendously well scored and filled with an excellent silent and even poetic approach to it, it is one standout scene from beginning to end. The scenes between Tarzan and Kala were naturally some of the best as well.

Now is the perfect time to talk about the characters. Tarzan himself is really good. Too serious, but he has such a great, genuinely moving and powerful arc. He grew up a bit too fast, but his adult part is great. Jane is fantastic. I don’t know why she’s so underrated, but when it comes to Disney’s female characters, she is one of the most endearing and likable. I liked that she was a stereotype at first, but that she eventually changed. The romance between the two is very sweet.

…………………………………………………………………….

Kala is such a sweet soul and a wonderful mother. Kerchak is superb and the relationship between him and Tarzan is possibly the strongest one in the film and that says a lot. He proved his worth near the end and watching Kerchak die and utter that line of acceptance to his adoptive son was just heartbreaking and wonderful to witness.

Terk is definitely funny and it is great that we got a female comedic sidekick who is also a tomboy. She is genuinely funny with a couple of great lines and succeeds as a comic relief as well as being a great friend. Tantor is nowhere near as good as her, but he still has his moments and is better than most secondary sidekicks. Professor Porter is absolutely phenomenal. I just loved him as he is such a sweet, at times funny and always immensely likable person who brought a smile to my face. Clayton, on the other hand, is one of the film’s major weaknesses. I get that he was important to the story, but he was still a typical villain who didn’t really pose serious threat. He is well designed and definitely not bad, but still not great and his death is typically foolish and even ridiculous in a way.

…………………………………………………………………….

Tarzan has excellent animation. Now there isn’t anything truly artistic here and some of the earlier Disney renaissance films were more inspired for sure, but it still looks terrific. The character designs I loved. I wasn’t crazy about Tarzan’s look, but the gorillas looked terrific and all of the other humans were great. But the highlights are the action which is stupendously well realized in movements and the natural scenery which is simply gorgeous. Some scenes here truly are breathtaking to witness.

Now the soundtrack is splendid. I get why some may find it cheesy, but I like Phil Collins and what he did here was great. All of the songs here are either moving or catchy and I liked that for once the characters do not sing, but the songs serve as a background. All of them serve as great plot drivers or character moments and thus they are successful.

…………………………………………………………………….

Trashin’ the Camp is naturally the weakest of the five, but watching it and listening to it the second time, I do not dislike it as much as I did the first time around. It is still basically a non-song with silly singing, but the tune itself is catchy and the sequence is actually a lot of fun, although definitely a detour and even filler in terms of storytelling.

Strangers Like Me I don’t love as it is a bit boring to me when compared to the next three songs, but it is still solid and actually great in its lyrics and very fitting to the story. The entire scene is one of the film’s best, so well done and animated. I have a soft spot for Two Worlds. Not a lot of people love it as much as I do, but not only does it accompany a master class opening, but it is genuinely good in its own right with moving lyrics and a great, dramatic and inspirational change in rhythm near the end.

…………………………………………………………………….

You’ll Be in My Heart is a deserved Oscar winner, a song that is emotional, even heartbreaking and is pleasantly reminiscent to Baby Mine from ‘Dumbo’. So well sung by both the mother and Phil Collins in the official version. But it is actually Son of Man that is the highlight of this great soundtrack. I just adore this song! It was a great, fun way to have Tarzan transition from child to adult without it being boring, the lyrics are good, the rhythm is so entertaining and it is just such an infectious, immensely catchy tune that is in my opinion one of Disney’s catchiest songs ever.

Tarzan is technically quite polished. The action is stupendous, so well done and exhilarating at times. It had a lot of action, but the kind of action that is adventurous and fun instead of dull. The humor is mostly charming and satisfying, the dialogue is solid and the movie’s admirable emotional approach is evident from the beginning (the way they explored family was beautiful to behold). The voice acting is top-notch, the direction is excellent and both the animation and the effects are fantastic. The pacing is one of my problems. It was just too rushed which is something I’ve only noticed watching it for the third or so time, but it was definitely noticeable. Some scenes were way too abrupt and the entire movie had such an epic, long story that needed to be told in at least 100 instead of 88 minutes.

…………………………………………………………………….

That is the only flaw here, that along with the villain and a somewhat too happy, if still heartwarming ending. It felt way too convenient and to me unrealistic that Jane chose to live with him in the wild, but still watching her make that decision, jump into the water and kiss him at the shore was wonderful and watching the Professor join them with that very funny line made my day. The film has a couple of flaws for sure, but it is still one of Disney’s best films in my opinion. Not in the top five, but certainly near the top of the list and probably in my top ten.

With absolutely terrific animation, memorable and very well developed characters, greatly established relationships between each and every one of them, stupendously well executed action sequences and some great tunes with Son of Man being so catchy and a lot of fun, Tarzan is such an underrated Disney film that is one of my favorites from the studio, a film that is rushed in pacing and with a typical villain, but is simultaneously emotional, dramatic, romantic and adventurous and well crafted on almost every level. It was a great film to end the Disney Renaissance.

My Rating – 4.5

…………………………………………………………………….

You’re in the Super Bowl, Charlie Brown (1994)

Posted on January 15, 2017January 15, 2017 by simbasible

You’re in the Super Bowl, Charlie Brown Review

You’re in the Super Bowl, Charlie Brown is a 1994 animated television special and the 37th entry in the Peanuts series. It is a very dull special.

Yes, this one is very boring mostly because the entire game between the birds and the cats and later bisons was so overlong and not that interesting in concept either. And I also found the design of the animals very unappealing here which is weird having in mind how iconic Snoopy and Woodstock are, but these other animals looked odd nonetheless. Whenever they made a sports-related episode, I am bound to be bored and I was certainly bored here.

But You’re in the Super Bowl, Charlie Brown has its moments. Charlie and Linus’ infatuation with a girl is a tired concept and, though not bad, it wasn’t particularly memorable here. But the entire subplot with Lucy is absolutely fantastic as he perfectly manipulated Charlie into kicking the ball and then he tried to kick it while she wasn’t looking and still failed miserably. This running gag is one of my favorites throughout the series and it is so well put to use in this special plus the ending is pretty good.

You’re in the Super Bowl, Charlie Brown is a wildly uneven special. The Lucy subplot is great, but everything else is done and prolonged.

My Rating – 3.1

Häxan (1922)

Posted on January 15, 2017January 15, 2017 by simbasible

……………………………………………………………….

Häxan Movie Review

Häxan is a 1922 Swedish/Danish documentary horror silent film directed by Benjamin Christensen. It is a pretty good, intriguing experiment.

……………………………………………………………….

“Poor little hysterical witch!

In the middle ages you were in conflict with the church.

Now it is with the law“

……………………………………………………………….

It is a study of how superstition and the misunderstanding of diseases and mental illness could lead to the hysteria of the witch-hunts. Because I have always been interested in this particular subject matter, I found this movie to be quite fascinating at times. That is not to say that it is without its problems and there are many on which I will elaborate later, but the film is mostly a successful and definitely admirable experiment as rarely have I seen a film quite like this one.

It is a mix of documentary and horror which is, needless to say, quite authentic and interesting. I loved its distinctive visual style and how well thought out it is. It explains you almost everything you need to know about witch-hunts and the second half in particular is quite engaging.

But the problem with Häxan lies in its first half. Yes, the documentary approach here isn’t the greatest. And even though the mix of fiction and documentary is interesting, it definitely felt odd at times and tonally weird. Those passages where they explain this subject were overlong and filled with too many intertitles and not enough images. Some of the imagery was quite striking, but I still would have preferred to have seen real footage or fictionalized footage that is.

……………………………………………………………….

Häxan is exceptionally well made and crafted. The problem is that it is just never as entertaining as I hoped it would have been given its fascinating subject matter and it disappointed me a little overall, but the direction from Benjamin Christensen is excellent and some scenes are just so memorable. And the special effects are simply outstanding and so revolutionary for its time period. In the end, even though it isn’t the best that foreign cinema of the twenties has to offer, it is still so intriguing and different that I admired it a lot.

Häxan definitely is tonally odd, it isn’t as engaging as it could have been and the mix of documentary and horror is weird, but that mix is still authentic and very interesting, some of the imagery here is quite striking, it deals with its interesting subject matter really well and it is mostly exceptionally well made and visually magnificent. It has its flaws, but it is certainly one of the most unique silent films.

My Rating – 4

……………………………………………………………….

Plants vs. Zombies 2 (2013)

Posted on January 15, 2017January 15, 2017 by simbasible

………………………………………………………….

Plants vs. Zombies 2 Video Game Review

Plants vs. Zombies 2 is a 2013 tower defense video game developed and published by PopCap Games for Android devices. It is an improvement over its predecessor.

Yes, as a sequel to 2009’s ‘Plants vs. Zombies’, I have to say that it is definitely better in almost every regard. It is bigger, more diverse and much more interesting. Let’s first talk about the gameplay. The game was being released from 2013 to 2016 as they have been adding a new world from time to time, but it unfortunately ended eventually which is a shame as there was even more potential for new worlds.

………………………………………………………….

It has eleven worlds or areas in it which is much more than the five that the original had and that is the major reason why I loved this one more. And not only that, but the number of levels was even bumped from ten to 25 or even 32 in later worlds which makes this game incredibly long. In fact, it took my month to complete it which was awesome and I continue to play it after the campaign has been finished which just goes to show how much diverse content you have here and how much of a repeat/longevity value it truly has.

Ancient Egypt is the first world and it isn’t as good as the rest and is weaker in terms of difficulty. Pirate Seas is much more memorable, especially in level design which is terrific. Wild West is even better as it introduces a lot of cool new things in its gameplay such as moving platforms and many more new plants and new, tougher zombies.

Frostbite Caves is a bit annoying as it only has a couple of truly horrible to beat levels, way too difficult, but the rest is just too easy which makes it a bit uneven in the long run. Lost City is unique in design, but much too easy compared to the others. Far Future is also easy, but it features new and compelling additions such as those great tiles.

………………………………………………………….

Dark Ages is the similar to Caves as it has its difficult levels, but is otherwise pretty easy to beat. Neon Mixtape Tour I wasn’t such a big fan of as I do not like these fast levels and they don’t appeal to me as much as other more tactical and slower levels do. Jurassic Marsh is awesome in its superb use of dinosaurs that can either help you or become a nuisance.

Modern Day is solid and it benefits from a great level boss spread throughout three levels, but Big Wave Beach is easily the most difficult world here. Wow, is it insane! It literally took me days and even weeks to finish a couple of them as they were just so hard even with all of the power-ups. That is done for better and for worse as it was all the more rewarding when I’ve finished it, but it was frustrating that you had to use all of the powers and helping methods to do it as it is almost impossible to do in your own.

………………………………………………………….

The animation and graphics in Plants vs. Zombies 2 continue to be strong, but the score takes a backseat this time around as it is just never as iconic as was the score from the original. All of the different worlds had appropriately fitting tunes in tone, but they were either too forgettable or too low in volume.

The controls continue to be great and even the plot is solid and better than in the original. Crazy Dave is again such a character, but he is even more memorable and more present in this sequel and his sidekick robot Penny is awesome and her harsh, deadpan delivery was so funny at times. It is mostly pretty coherent and the difficulty level for the most part was well utilized. The designs of the levels were mostly excellent, all the worlds are memorable and the game is smooth with no bugs and it has great longevity which I mentioned before.

………………………………………………………….

It is also pretty original in terms of zombies and plants. Here you have much more plants at your disposal and the zombies are so great not only in terms of high difficulty but also of how well they are incorporated within their worlds and with the plants you have to use to defeat them. The only problem in terms of the arsenal is that most of the plants can only be bought with real money and that is something that really hurt this game. And even though Endless is a bit boring, Vasebreaker is just so awesome a mini-game (infectiously entertaining and wonderfully strategic) that it made PvZ2 much more playable after the main campaign is over.

In the end, even though most of the plants have to be bought by real money and the score is weaker, Plants vs. Zombies 2 is still better than its predecessor thanks to a much bigger world with a lot of new areas and with a huge number of levels plus the designs are great, the game is incredibly entertaining and at times even very difficult and it has such a great longevity factor to it that it is a real winner by all means.

My Rating – 4.5

………………………………………………………….

Hold Anything (1930)

Posted on January 14, 2017January 14, 2017 by simbasible

Hold Anything Review

Hold Anything is a 1930 animated short film from the Looney Tunes series. It is the weakest entry this far.

The reason why this one is weaker than all of the previous entries is simple – it is very derivative. It basically repeats plot points previously seen in ‘Sinkin’ in the Bathtub‘, but with slight changes. You once again have Bosko coming to visit Honey at her workplace and you again have him interacting with a goat. It is unfortunate that it is that much of a derivative short.

But it still has its moments. The scene with the goat is memorable for the floating moment and again the film utilizes music very well into the storyline. I continue to like Honey and Bosko and both are fun characters which is seen once again here, but I do wish that they get something more interesting to do in later installments.

Hold Anything has its good moments and the characters themselves are once again fun, but the plot is derivative in too many sequences.

My Rating – 3.3

Kubo and the Two Strings (2016)

Posted on January 14, 2017January 14, 2017 by simbasible

……………………………………………………………

Kubo and the Two Strings Movie Review

Kubo and the Two Strings is a 2016 stop-motion adventure film directed by Travis Knight. It is Laika’s fourth feature film and it is pretty disappointing.

……………………………………………………………

“If you must blink, do it now“

……………………………………………………………

The film revolves around Kubo who has magical powers and whose left eye was stolen. Accompanied by Monkey and Beetle, they must subdue the Sisters, Raiden the Moon King and his army of evil spirits. This is the kind of a film where it took me a while to realize just why I didn’t enjoy it more as it seems to be perfect in every way, but it just isn’t. And that is the point here – almost all of the plot points are very good, but the film is somehow not great as a sum of its parts and the story just isn’t all that fascinating.

I enjoy Eastern animation and I did enjoy its influence on this film, but in terms of storytelling and tone, it is too much of an American film. Let me elaborate. Japanese animation is mature and serious and this movie is like that many times and it deals with serious issues and it has some incredibly creepy moments, but the overall tone to it is frustratingly light-weight and comedic and it just doesn’t fit in with the story.

But Kubo definitely has a stupendous story. I liked all of its elements and I particularly liked the use of ancient music as well as the overall setting which was great. Those sisters were phenomenal foes and quite creepy actually. The horror elements here were awesome. And even though it somewhat affected it in terms of scope, the twist itself was very interesting and I didn’t see it coming at all.

……………………………………………………………

Kubo is a boring protagonist, but Monkey and Beetle are much more memorable. They aren’t that great individually, but in a group and together they are terrific and the character interactions were great here as was the overall group dynamic. As for the Moon King, I never really found him all that interesting as a major villain and, without spoiling anything, how they concluded his story was pretty odd and somewhat stupid in my opinion.

Kubo and the Two Strings has absolutely gorgeous stop-motion animation which has now become a standard for the Laika studio. I loved all of the details and the world building is mostly solid. It could have been much more epic in scope, but what we got was still good. Some of the character designs were pretty inspired with the sisters and Monkey being the highlights, so well done. And the color palette is excellent.

……………………………………………………………

Kubo is well paced and well directed by Travis Knight, but I just found its voice acting to be quite uninspired. It isn’t terrible, but it is far from great as both Charlize Theron and Matthew McConaughey gave weak performances and the casting in particular is quite bad in this one. And the other flaw is the emotion. The film is emotional and I guess melancholic, but because I just wasn’t that invested in its characters, I never really felt anything which was a big problem for me. And that is this movie in a nutshell – it is seemingly great, but to me personally it never quite came together as a whole and I was quite disappointed to be honest.

Kubo and the Two Strings has expectedly gorgeous stop-motion animation, good mythology, very interesting twist in the third act, it works great as an adventure film and most of its plot points are very good, but it isn’t that great as a sum of its parts, the tone is way too comedic and not fitting in with the plot and I just didn’t feel anything mainly because I didn’t connect with the characters and because I found the voice acting to be not that great.

My Rating – 4

……………………………………………………………

Underground (1995)

Posted on January 13, 2017January 13, 2017 by simbasible

……………………………………………………………….

Underground Movie Review

Underground is a 1995 comedy drama film directed by Emir Kusturica and starring Miki Manojlovic, Lazar Ristovski and Mirjana Jokovic. It is a pretty solid, yet overrated movie.

……………………………………………………………….

“Once upon a time… there was a country…“

……………………………………………………………….

Underground (or Podzemlje in Serbian) follows an epic story between two friends and it follows Yugoslav history from the beginning of World War II until the beginning of Yugoslav Wars. With this movie, my opinion of Kusturica continues to be the same – he is an incredibly talented filmmaker and even an artist, but he just couldn’t quite make a movie work as a whole. Underground is impressive in its ambition, but that also proved to be its downfall as he just couldn’t realize the whole movie in the best way. The result is a film that is sometimes quite inspired and even artistic, but sometimes quite excessive and ridiculous.

I liked the characters and although they were too crazy, at least they were memorable. Ivan is too goofy, yet very likable. Natalija is unlikable, but well developed. And Petar and Marko are over-the-top, but certainly memorable. The performances here are very good with Lazar Ristovski and Miki Manojlovic delivering the best ones.

……………………………………………………………….

Now, as I said before, Underground is just overly excessive in its ridiculousness. That is why its success as a black comedy is questionable and it succeeds much more as an epic war drama. Some of its over-the-top craziness was fun and some scenes definitely made me laugh and were one of the kind, but most were too silly and just too much.

But the film is worth seeing and experiencing for a couple of sequences that are just jaw-dropping in their beauty and authenticity. For one, the character’s realization when out of the bunker that Yugoslavia is no more was just heartbreaking to witness as you could see the sadness in his eyes. That scene was beyond tragic and unforgettable. I loved the first scenes of the movie at the zoo as they perfectly hooked me in the story. I really liked those crazy sex scenes. And of course I loved its imaginative ending which was just beautiful to behold. Watching all of the friends and family, both living and dead, on some sort of separated island celebrate a wedding was emotional and actually a very original, fittingly surreal way to end the film.

……………………………………………………………….

Underground is more style over substance, but what style this is. Of course the pacing isn’t great as the film is very long and it is difficult to edit plus his first cut was even longer, but his direction is very good and sometimes quite inspired plus the acting is excellent. I loved the cinematography here as some shots were brilliant and some of the imagery was unforgettable and very authentic. There are actually a lot of the scenes that are memorable here and that is why the film succeeds. It is very diverse, different and crazy that it stays with you. The emotion is strong and although I would have strengthened the relationships between the characters more, they were still fine and the film is very ambitious in presenting the history of the country through decades using quite memorable historical footage. I also found its dialogue to be very good, excessive once again, but memorable and sometimes very realistic with a couple of hilarious lines. All in all, it is overrated and not the director’s best, but still a solid and ambitious, if not entirely successful experiment.

Underground is style over substance and Kusturica was too much influenced by Fellini. The direction is strong, the acting is also very good, some of the scenery and shots are unforgettable and the film is admirably ambitious, but its ambition was also its downfall as it is a very uneven work with some inspired and even artistic scenes, but many too ridiculous and over-the-top moments. Because the film is so epic, ambitious and sometimes unforgettable in a couple of very authentic sequences, it succeeds, but it is still uneven, flawed, too excessive and frankly overrated.

My Rating – 3.5

……………………………………………………………….

Tender Mercies (1983)

Posted on January 12, 2017January 12, 2017 by simbasible

…………………………………………………………………………………

Tender Mercies Movie Review

Tender Mercies is a 1983 drama film directed by Bruce Beresford and starring Robert Duvall. It is quite a good, moving drama.

…………………………………………………………………………………

“I don’t know why I wandered out to this part of Texas drunk, and you took me in and pitied me and helped me to straighten out, marry me.

Why? Why did that happen? Is there a reason that happened?

And Sonny’s daddy died in the war, my daughter killed in an automobile accident.

Why? See, I don’t trust happiness. I never did; I never will.“

…………………………………………………………………………………

It is about a recovering alcoholic country singer who seeks to turn his life around through his relationship with a young widow and her son in rural Texas. First of all, I have to say that I get why many people nowadays would find this film overrated as it is slow and it is too simplistic and ordinary at glance. But I really liked it nonetheless mainly because it is the kind of drama that unfolds in a very simple and calm way and just after you’ve seen it, you realize how deep and meaningful it actually was. I love that quality in film which is why I admired Tender Mercies.

…………………………………………………………………………………

Obviously you have the theme of family and love. The film very clearly states that love is the most powerful thing in the universe and that it is a driving force in human relationships and that it can save people and it did save the protagonist here. I also really liked its religious themes as he became a Christian late in his life and it helped his life, but after his daughter died, he realized that Christianity can’t shield you from death and tragedy after all. The best thing about the ending is how poignant it is. It shows us that some relationships can’t be mended and how his relationship with his daughter will remain a giant missed opportunity. But it is still a happy ending as he remains sober and settles down with his new family and I just loved that conclusion.

What I didn’t love is the film’s character development as it is quite weak. The dialogue is excellent when it is there, but it is too sparse and there were too many quiet moments. The characters are realistic and good, but I wish we spent a bit more time with each one of them. As for the acting, everyone did a solid job, but Robert Duvall is naturally the highlight as he won an Oscar for this performance. In my opinion, he won because it was a weak year and he didn’t do anything truly extraordinary here, but he still did give a rather natural, subtle and even sensual performance and he definitely carried the entire movie on his shoulders.

…………………………………………………………………………………

Tender Mercies is sometimes too slow and uneventful and definitely too simplistic at times. I wished that it had more dialogue of substance and more emotion in its first half. It is still solidly paced as it flows well, it is very well directed and it is well shot too. I have to say that the soundtrack is excellent and even though I don’t quite like country music, I really liked these songs and they transport you really well into its setting. The film is quite atmospheric when you think about it. I don’t know if it deserved to win Best Original Screenplay, but the nods for director and song Over You were very much deserved as both are great.

Tender Mercies does have sparse dialogue, overly simplistic approach at first and the characterization should have been stronger, but Robert Duvall is very good in his Oscar winning performance, the direction is also strong, the film’s soundtrack is excellent and it is a story that seems too simple and uneventful at first, but when you think about, it actually has a lot of deep themes in it such as love, death and religion plus the ending is quite satisfying and moving.

My Rating – 4

…………………………………………………………………………………

Gay Purr-ee (1962)

Posted on January 12, 2017January 12, 2017 by simbasible

………………………………………………………….

Gay Purr-ee Movie Review

Gay Purr-ee is a 1962 animated musical film from Warner Bros. starring Judy Garland. It is a very disappointing, frankly quite weak movie.

………………………………………………………….

“Boys, if you ever marry, marry for love… of money.“

………………………………………………………….

The plot is nothing special and is quite ordinary and at times even dull. Now obviously Disney’s ‘The Aristocats’ was influenced by this movie and in some plot points it might even be called a rip-off. But to me the aforementioned movie is much better with better characters, animation and music. The plot is weak in both movies and here it tried to have many different things in it, but ultimately doesn’t succeed in either of them.

The characters are quite weak. Mewsette is your typical female love interest and Jaune Tom is likable, yet forgettable. Robespierre is a typical, but solid sidekick and he is actually better developed and more memorable than the aforementioned two. Meowrice is actually a quite capable villain, but even he disappointed me near the end. His character doesn’t work because Paul Frees gave an infuriatingly weak performance and all of the others are weak as well. They made the movie look cheap along with its animation.

………………………………………………………….

Yes, the animation is cheap here and yes, it does look unprofessional and if it was still in the development process. However, I still admired its aesthetics because some of the imagery is excellent and some of the designs were great. The scene with the parody of major works from major artists definitely felt like a detour in terms of storytelling, but in terms of the animation, it was quite inspired and even artistic. I just wish that the film got a polished look and it would have been great, but this way it just felt unfinished and unprofessional.

Gay Purr-ee features some quite mediocre musical numbers. As a musical, it doesn’t succeed even though it has a couple of solid songs in it. The Overture is a quite solid opening for the movie and Mewsette is pretty solid as well. Take My Hand, Paree is catchy and in tone it is fittingly French to accompany its setting. Little Drops of Rain is emotional and serves the story well. But all of the other numbers are very weak and even poor in some instances.

………………………………………………………….

Gay Purr-ee is a problematic movie because it is just too slow paced to become engaging and it was even boring and felt overlong despite its short running time and that is never a good sign. The drama and the villainy was solid, but the action was dull and the entire third act was too cartoony. In the end, it is a further proof of Disney’s dominance during the 60s and how Warner Bros’ unfortunately could not compete and this flick is a testament to that.

Gay Purr-ee has a couple of solid musical numbers, some good scenes and a couple of inspired animated moments, but the overall animation, although obviously featuring solid designs and scenery, felt unfinished and cheap, the characters are not the greatest, the voice acting is quite poor and most of the songs were weak leading to a pretty weak Warner Bros. animated effort.

My Rating – 3

………………………………………………………….

Top Ten Popeye the Sailor Films

Posted on January 12, 2017January 12, 2017 by simbasible

………………………………………………………………..

Top Ten Popeye the Sailor Films

Popeye is one of the most beloved cartoon characters of its time and although his popularity has waned in recent times, he is to me a wonderful character and his series is magnificent and one of the best series of theatrical animated shorts in the thirties. It features a variety of unforgettable characters such as Olive and Bluto and it mostly managed to satisfy with its mix of good action and terrific humor. And although its quality stumbled later on in the early 40s, it was amazing during most of its 1930s run. So without further ado, here is my list of the best Popeye the Sailor short films. This is my personal list and I have to say that I only included the Fleischer entries on this list. So here we go.

………………………………………………………………..

10. Hospitaliky

This 1937 Popeye entry is unique for featuring a very different spinach use than anything done before or after it. Popeye usually eats spinach to gather strength to beat his opponents, but here he gave it to Bluto so Bluto could beat him up and he would end up in a hospital treated by Olive. It isn’t as funny as some of the other entries on this list, but it surely is entertaining with excellent action and a one of a kind, unforgettable premise beautifully executed.

9. Bridge Ahoy!

This one benefits from such an outstanding usage of the bridge. The series has had many high-altitude settings like this throughout the years, but rarely has it been utilized this well and with some absolutely fantastic action sequences. But the standout here is Wimpy. He is the best supporting character in the Popeye canon and here he is hilarious. The scene in which he chose to get mustard instead of helping Popeye emphasized his obsession with sandwiches brilliantly and is probably the funniest scene in the series’ run.

8. Sock-a-Bye, Baby

This short follows Popeye trying to get rid of all the noise in order to keep the baby asleep. That concept was refreshing for its time as Popeye is the only character present here along with the baby. And although this formula would become really tired eventually in the series’ last years during those weak years in the beginning of the 40s, here it was done in a very good manner and the short is funny and ends superbly.

7. The Two-Alarm Fire

Popeye must firefight Olive’s house and save her while Bluto is there to make everything more difficult for him. And eventually he saves both of them and when Popeye makes sure that Bluto is okay, he punches him in the film’s climax. This premise sounds amazing, but the execution is more than great as well. It features one of Popeye’s funniest and most satisfying endings ever plus the action is amazing and it is a prime example of wacky physics in cartoons done right.

6. Be Kind to “Aminals”

This cartoon features one of the funniest remarks about Olive’s physique ever in a great Bluto line. I have always really enjoyed the humor surrounding and here it is especially good. But watching Bluto harass a poor horse and then Popeye and Olive teaching him a lesson is naturally immensely rewarding with such a hilarious ending and with all three of the characters being top-notch this time around.

5. Axe Me Another

In this one Popeye saves Olive whom Bluto threw into the river and then the two square off by comparing their strength on the surrounding trees. Axe Me Another again features all three iconic characters in their full form which I of course adore, but it is not only funny, but also terrific in action. In fact, it features probably some of the best action sequences in the series with Popeye punching and chopping trees being the inventive highlight.

4. Beware of Barnacle Bill

Popeye goes to propose to Olive, but she rejects his proposal for she is engaged to another sailor. Eventually the two fight and Popeye leaves Olive. Of course I would take any entry with these two lovebirds in an instant, but this one is of the funniest and most amusing kind. Olive’s line – “There goes the navy. Here comes the army!” – is so funny and it perfectly encapsulates her character in just one sentence. A hilarious film.

3. The “Hyp-Nut-Tist”

This entry is absolutely brilliant and it deservedly takes the third spot just because of Bluto. Popeye and Olive go to a magician’s show. The magician happens to be Bluto and he ridicules the two before Popeye beats him in the end. Yes, Popeye triumphs of course, but not easily at all. This is undoubtedly Bluto’s finest hour ever as he proved to be an exceptionally formidable opponent here and I loved that change in pace and it was very funny watching him torment the two.

2. Learn Polikeness

A rare late entry on this list, 1938’s Learn Polikeness features Bluto teaching Popeye how to be a gentleman. Not only do we have both of the men at their best here, but we also have a plot that centers around Popeye’s brute behavior and of course that’s awesome. He has always been such a redneck, but here that is emphasized magnificently in a short that is very funny and almost perfectly constructed.

1. For Better or Worser

This 1935 entry sees Popeye trying to find a wife mainly for cooking and the service provides him Olive, but he has to fight with Bluto to get her. Eventually he sees how ugly she is with all of the make-up and dumps her. That ending is just hysterical and I laughed so hard watching it. It is one of the funniest scenes in any cartoon ever. But the whole film is phenomenal with a gorgeous attention to detail and a great look at 1930s dating scene. It features Popeye and Olive at their very best. They are always great together, but here they are unforgettable. Hilarious and perfectly executed, For Better or Worser is without any doubt the best Popeye short film of them all and it had to take my number one spot.

………………………………………………………………..

Honorable Mentions:

I Yam Love Sick – Here Popeye fools the doctors that he is sick so that Olive would care for him. it is naturally so funny, but also featuring some incredibly inventive moments in the hospital.

The Twisker Pitcher – As the only really good sports-oriented Popeye cartoon, it features hilarious Olive and such an inventive use of spinach as Popeye plants it himself before eating it.

Wild Elephinks – Watching Popeye fight all of the wild animals in Wild Elephinks is super rewarding and the highlight is the scene in which he makes coats out of them all.

………………………………………………………………..