avi-greene2 Reviews

Bambi II (2006 Video)

Good, but I think this should have been a theatrical feature in the early 1990s.

[7/10 · 4 May 2023]

To start this review off, I have a lot of fond memories from when I was younger and I watched this movie. I saw it when I was fourteen with my siblings, even though they probably might not have been as engaged as I was. Then once in my high school career, I had a lot of anxiety about an English EOC Exam we were required to take as Junior students, so I actually was watching this one evening to calm me down, and it helped me a lot when understanding fictional literature was one of my high school weaknesses.

Now as an adult, having seen this movie on Disney Plus, I re-evaluated my opinion on the film, and I have to say that it has all the qualities of what potentially could have been a clever idea for a Theatrical release before "The Lion King" had been made, especially when you consider that the original "Bambi" movie was the very first animated Disney movie to star only animals and no humans on screen, how this midquel, in fact, does have storylines that the animators on the first film had proposed, but did not make it in, and the idea that when Lion King came out, it had a lot of similar qualities to the Bambi franchise.

This is a midquel that takes place in between the time in the original when Bambi's mom was shot by man, and the time he grew up to become a handsome young buck.

This probably could have been a great idea for Don Bluth and Gary Goldman to be in charge of directing for Disney in the late 1980's and the early 1990's, instead of them working on stuff like "An American Tail", "The Secret of NIMH", and "The Land Before Time", and I think this movie could have probably been released to theaters for Thanksgiving of 1990 rather than "The Rescuers Down Under", so that this would have been released before "The Lion King" instead of later than it. The title should have been called "Bambi and the Great Prince of the Forest", and if the story ideas from this movie had made it into the original, it would have been way too long of an animated movie, so that was why there was a second movie released instead. Notice how they kept the instrumental score references from "Bambi 1", including the references to "Love is a Song", and even had the characters on screen sing "Let's Sing A Gay Little Spring Song" when the groundhog doesn't see his shadow, being the only time in the entire franchise characters on screen sing. There are also many identical shots in the film that are identical to scenes that occur in the original, which would be part of the many ways recycled animation used to be common back in the day. Although it was direct to video in the United States, this film actually did come to theaters in some countries abroad, but that was only limited.

On the downside, though, I think they should have also included a song called "Sing the Day" at the scene where Bambi is taught to be brave by Thumper and Flower, and it was a bummer that they deleted it from the final cut.

I have come up with so many great ideas for casting choices for the film if it had come out in between "The Little Mermaid" and "Beauty and the Beast", where I think the Great Prince should have been voiced by Mel Gibson, Friend Owl by John Cleese, Bambi by Gabriel Damon, Thumper by Bradley Michael Pierce just before he would also voice Chip from "Beauty and the Beast", Flower by Jason James Richter before he had been in "Free Willy", Thumper's sisters by Andi McAfee, Kelsey White and Candace Hutson shortly before Hutson would star as herself in "Disneyland Fun" for Disneyland's 35th Anniversary, the groundhog and porcupine by Frank Welker who would additionally provide the sound effects of the hunting dogs Bambi faces near the end, Faline by Christina Lange after she had voiced Sister Bear in "The Berenstain Bears", Ronno by Danny Cooksey at the same time he would also record his voice as Montana Max from "Tiny Toon Adventures", Bambi's mother at the clip when he dreams she is still with him to have been voiced by a wide pool of candidates from Hollywood like Sigourney Weaver, Glenn Close, or Holland Taylor, and Mena and Thumper's mom to have been voiced by the late, great Mary Kay Bergman who was as funny as Cree Summer, Tara Strong and Grey DeLisle. They should have also recorded "Sing the Day" by having folk singer Nancy Cassidy perform the song.

A couple of songs that actually made the movie perhaps were not quite the most memorable by any means like most of the songs in the first, and I also think when you hear "There is Life" you can't help but think of "Circle of Life" from Lion King in the title and tone of the song. That song probably should have been written in the 1990's as well, because the opening notes pays homage to "Love is a Song" in the original "Bambi", and I think it should have been sung by Paula Abdul. Alison Kraus and Martina McBride do have beautiful voices, though, especially when they have had a lot of music awards and albums that people have bought and listened to in real life.

In conclusion, if you want to check out this movie for how it actually had been released, maybe you would like it best for how the animated animal characters do seem like they could be friendly, and really fluffy and furry and soft if they existed in real life, or perhaps for its connections to the original "Bambi" classic that I still say would be superior to this overall. I would give this movie a 10/10 if the 1990's idea I had in mind came into fruition, and Walt would be smiling down from heaven to hear about my idea.

Kiki's Delivery Service (1989)

10/10 for the original Japanese release, 6/10 for the English dub, song-wise, but I love the comedy of Phil Hartman as Jiji.

[9/10 · 29 December 2017]

I love all the Studio Ghibli masterpieces that have been directed by Hayao Miyazaki, and feature an original score and original songs composed by Joe Hisaishi.

This is a movie released in Japan that contains beautiful artwork, and a story to it where there is a thirteen-year old girl named Kiki. She is intending to be a witch-in-training, because it is a tradition that when a girl turns thirteen they go away for two years on broomsticks. That's what Kiki does with her beautiful black cat named Jiji. Together, they use Kiki's mother's broom, and go to a French town where Kiki stays with a baker named Osono. During her stay with Osono, Kiki loses her witch's powers, so she flies down a local hill where the broom breaks in half. A woman named Ursula then takes Kiki to her cabin/art studio, where Kiki learns that when she flies, she has to rely on what's inside of her. She then takes the broomstick of a man who lives in the same town as Osono, to save a local teenage boy who is learning all about aviation from Kiki. His name is Tombo, and he is seen taking Kiki on a tour of town on his bicycle that comes with a propeller so he can actually bike on air. It breaks, and they land on a beach shore, but this happens before Kiki loses her witch's powers later in the film. So, getting back to the part with Tombo when Kiki has a brand new broomstick, Tombo is seen riding on the bottom of a huge dirigible that flies into the town. What happens in that scene is that the dirigible is flying towards the top of a clock tower, and when it gets to that point there is a huge crash. Kiki has to save Tombo from falling down when the bottom of the dirigible breaks, and she has to rely on her spirit to save Tombo. She catches him, and they float down to a mat. Kiki writes to her parents at the end of the movie, to tell them her delivery service is going well, and that she misses home, and is getting comfortable where she is living now.

About what my opinion is about this classic from Studio Ghibli in Tokyo, I love the songs at the beginning and end of the original Japanese release, and they are called "Rouge no Dengon" in the start of the movie, and "Yasashisa ni tsutsumareta nara" in the end. They respectively translate in English to "Message in Rouge", and "If I've been enveloped in tenderness".

However, I have different opinions about the English dub. I am very entertained by the comedic acting of the late actor Phil Hartman, who voiced Jiji in the English release of this Miyazaki/Hisaishi project. The English dub also includes Kirsten Dunst as Kiki, Matthew Lawrence as Tombo, Debbie Reynolds as Osono, and Janeane Garofalo as Ursula. They are very good, too. What I probably have as the only complaint I have against the English dub is that the songs that were included in the Japanese release were replaced by two songs that I don't think were as good. They are "Soarin'" in the opening credits and "I'm Gonna Fly" in the end credits.

All in all, though, I think this is a must check-out for everyone who is fond of anime.

Journey Into Imagination: With Figment (1999)

7/10 for the 1999 ride "Journey Into YOUR Imagination", 1/10 for the current 2002 ride "Journey Into Imagination With Figment".

[1/10 · 29 December 2017]

My family and I used to live in Florida when I was a kid, and I remember that we would visit Walt Disney World almost semi-annually when I was a kid. I recall going for my 7th Birthday in 2000, and when I rode the 1999 edition of this ride, I barely remembered it. I saw a video of the ride "Journey Into YOUR Imagination" on YouTube, which stars Eric Idle from "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" as Dr. Nigel Channing. In the ride, he takes you through five different labs of the Imagination Institute, by name "Sound", "Illusion", "Color", "Dimension", and "Gravity". Before and after you go through the labs, the professor has a scanner called the Imagination Scanner, which he uses to measure how much imagination the riders have. At the end, the five experiments succeed, and the scanner explodes to reveal a light show. I liked that version of the ride, when I saw it on YouTube. Sadly, though, it closed in 2001 after only two years, due to guests not really enjoying the attraction much.

The ride that is at the Imagination Pavilion at EPCOT now is nothing like what I remember from my childhood. The current attraction is called "Journey Into Imagination With Figment", which brings back Figment the purple dragon and a song called "One Little Spark". Neither were in the 1999 ride, but before that there was a ride called "Journey Into Imagination" from 1983 to 1998, featuring a character called the Dreamfinder who creates a "Figment of his imagination".

In the version that has been in Florida since 2002, Dr. Nigel Channing returns and is played by Eric Idle again. This time, he plans an Open House at the Imagination Institute where the labs are based around the five human senses: Sight, Sound, Smell, Touch and Taste. His goal is to demonstrate how to capture riders' imagination. Unfortunately, in this version, Figment is seen as a distraction during the Open House when Dr. Channing says he couldn't join him for the event. Figment hijacks all the little experiments that are planned for each lab, by interrupting a hearing test in the sound lab, messing up with the eye chart in the sight lab and starting a sing along to a verse of "One Little Spark" written by the Sherman Brothers, and finally turning into a skunk in the smell lab and spraying the lab with an awful coffee smell. It causes Channing to abandon the Open House, so Figment takes riders to his Open House which is all upside down. In the end, we learn that Channing learns how imagination works better when it is set free, than when it is captured, as Figment tells him. The explosion sound this time is louder than it was in the 1999 ride, as it is not foreshadowed in the beginning of the 2002 edition.

I have ridden the current ride four times in my life, and I must say that I do not like it at all. It has probably been my least favorite movie I have ever seen in the whole world, and I am ready for the ride to be replaced by something better. I feel good in life with compromising with my family, and my parents about other things I might not want to do, just so that I would not have to ride the current Figment attraction the next time I visit Disney when my siblings have kids.

Why Did the Bus Stop? (1999 Video)

It's too bad that teachers in school nowadays don't show this video anymore, or its companion video "Who Left The Juice In The Caboose".

[10/10 · 21 October 2017]

I remember borrowing a VHS copy of this video when I lived with my family as a kid and my little sister was in Kindergarten. I remember that it was very useful for teaching spectators the importance of paying attention by learning how to "stop, look, and listen", by singing a cute little song about it.

In this short video (which was released straight to VCR, not released as a theatrical short before something), what happens is that there are five anthropomorphic animals: two mice named Jack and Roquefort, a hamster named Bebop, a bunny named Boo Boo (she doesn't have a real name; that's what she goes by) who gets her nickname from the fact that she likes to wear bandages on her body, even though she doesn't really have cuts, and Brie the mouse. They meet their Kindergarten teacher, Mr. Hopsalot, who does not have a first name, on the bus on their way to school, and make a few stops along the way to figure out the answer to the question that is themed around the title of this video. In between each stop, they figure out why the bus stopped by looking and listening for clues on a "Look and Listen" window. They find four different clues each time, where everyone makes a comment to chime in on the activity.

On their first stop, they visit a train station run by Aggie Aster The Station Master, where they sing about telling time, and all the important things everyone does in a day. Then they visit two other places before going to school. Next, they visit Old McDonald's barn, where they visit Mrs. Donkey, Daisy the Calf, and Rip Rat. Together, they teach viewers about letter sounds and sounds of each vowel by singing the traditional folk song everyone knows, except replacing "E-I-E-I-O" with "A-E- I-O-U and sometimes Y". Finally, the gang visits Firefighters C.J. and Edison, and sing a little game song about rhyming words to help the firefighters find their Dalmatian dog Pepper, which kind of incorporates the melody of "Where is Thumbkin", or "Are You Sleeping" in the chorus.

When the students arrive at school, Hopsalot reviews the summary of what the class did on each bus stop. After the end of the video, three live action kids that form a group called "The Bus Stop Boppers" get together and ask the audience if they figured out why the bus stopped, along with teaching everyone how the "Bus Stop Bop" goes (the same dance that is scene in the cartoon video itself). The names of the Bus Stop Boppers are McKenna Flash, Dylan Mori, and Jennifer York who also voices Boo Boo Bunny.

This video, alongside a companion video it was released with "Who Left The Juice In The Caboose" are two amazing videos that are very educational to me, even though I am an adult. What the other video is, is that it is geared to Preschoolers during which a character named Eleanor Elephant (who is also voiced by Jennifer York) rides the train conducted by Frankie the Dog, and finds out someone spilled their juice in the caboose. She receives a passenger list from Frankie, and interviews Casey Cat in the Pizza Palace, Pierre the Bear and Kesha Koala. At the end of that video, there is another live action group of kids called "The Woo Woo Dancers", which features the same cast roster with Jennifer York's sister Madeline, as they act out the dance routine from that episode also. I won't give away any more details on the other Jumpstart episode from Knowledge Adventure, as unfortunately it is not even listed on IMDb.

My main point from giving you guys all the minor details from the summaries of each video is that I'd really like to see more often, that people who work as Kindergarten and Preschool teachers order one of these two videos released in 1999 from a website like Amazon, because although they are both uploaded on YouTube, they don't have as good sound and picture quality on YouTube and Elementary schools don't have access to YouTube. In addition, it costs much more on Amazon to buy these two videos, than to buy other educational products, because sadly these are forgotten videos that can really help kids go a long way in life, which I can definitely rely on for the sake of shaping a newer generation's future.

Just to warn you, too, these are NOT Disney videos, even though they do have a similar quality.

The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)

A definite milestone in stop-motion animation that everyone should watch.

[7/10 · 1 November 2016]

So I know it's a little late to be writing this review on a Halloween themed animated movie, but I was watching it the other day on my VCR and thought that it was absolutely fantastic. There are WAY too many things I like about this movie, but I'll just name a few.

First of all, I think the soundtrack composed by musical genius Danny Elfman is engaging and very impressive, and my particular favorite songs are "This is Halloween" in the beginning and "What's This" that Jack Skellington, the main male protagonist in the movie, sings when he accidentally slips into Christmas Town.

I also love all the different varieties of characters seen throughout the film, including the mayor of Halloween Town who has two different faces (one being happy and one being sad) as well as a spider necktie, Dr. Finkelstein whose name is supposed to be a parody of Frankenstein (he's not so nice), and Sally the Ragdoll who was created by Finkelstein and is Jack Skellington's girlfriend.

But to me, the most significant element of the nightmare is that not only is it a movie based on Halloween, but also there's a lot of other elements that have a tremendous amount to do with Christmas, as the title suggests. Before the climax of the film, all the citizens of Halloween Town help make a new Santa outfit for Jack where Sally sews his hat, and then later Jack, along with his ghost dog Zero, leave Halloween Town via sleigh and help save Christmas when all the boys and girls there receive scary and frightening toys that end up chasing them and waking up their parents when they're sleeping. Sadly he ends up falling into a cemetery, but there's a secret passage that takes Jack back to Halloween Town when Sally and Santa Clause are in trouble and are about to be stewed by the villain in the movie, Oogie Boogie who is very cool, but also very spooky and creepy. In the end, the good kids in Christmas Town get regular toys that don't magically come to life and chase them, and Jack and Sally end up together when they kiss on the top of Spiral Hill.

For anyone who is curious as to where 3-D animation originated, this is definitely an animated hallmark of a film to check out, and I particularly recommend that people watch it on Halloween or on Christmas as I did. You may think that "Toy Story" was the first ever 3-D animated movie in history, but think again because you'd be wrong. While "Toy Story" is considered the very first computer- animated movie, this one is actually stop-motion animation which is also in 3-D. This is a movie that will not only delight you and make you become addicted to its soundtrack, but it will also take you to a magical world from the incredible imagination of Mr. Tim Burton.

Anyone who hasn't seen this yet, DEFINITELY SEE IT FOR YOURSELVES!

Looney Tunes: Back in Action (2003)

This movie is ABSOLUTELY TERRIBLE! Mel Blanc must be spinning in his grave!

[1/10 · 30 June 2016]

I first heard of this movie that combines animation and live-action when I saw it in the movie theater with my family when I was in Elementary School once, and ever since I saw it on the big screen I always thought "What an utterly horrible film this was"! I tried the movie again on Netflix in high school, and I still think the same thing to this day.

Pretty much all I can say about this movie is that it is ABSOLUTELY NOT worth watching. Even if you're a big fan of Bugs Bunny as I am, I definitely recommend you PRETEND THIS FILM WAS NEVER EVEN MADE, because all of the iconic Looney Tunes characters were animated by computer instead of by hand. I especially also dislike the acting of Brendan Fraser, even with the way his character in here was very firm.

Skip this Looney Tunes movie, and if you want to watch a full-length Bugs Bunny film see "Space Jam" with Michael Jordan, or even better than that, the critically-acclaimed hit animation and live-action cinematic success "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" because that one will definitely put a smile on your face. If Mel Blanc saw this one, he'd for sure be very disappointed with his famous animated character creations like Bugs Bunny, so I definitely imagine he's spinning in his grave because of this terrible film that should be extinct.

The Land Before Time II: The Great Valley Adventure (1994 Video)

Erase this animated sequel from your memory, because it is PURE GARBAGE.

[1/10 · 26 June 2016]

I deny the existence of this horrible direct-to-video movie, so please DO NOT WATCH IT AT ALL because it'll only ruin your memory of other Land Before Time movies such as the original. I first heard of this movie when I was a kid, and whenever I would watch it I would always turn it off in the middle of the movie because I was bored and crying about this bad film. However, I was able to watch this whole movie when I was in high school a couple of times because I was then old enough to appreciate the film for the characters and story line of when they have to save an egg from being stolen by two greedy egg thieves, Ozzy and Strut who are dreadful and lousy villains.

I'm in college right now, and all I can say about this Land Before Time sequel is that in every aspect, IT SUCKS! The songs are really cheesy and give me headaches such as "Peaceful Valley" and of course "Eggs". Not to mention the animation is ugly and all the voice acting is also really dreadful and painful, and this is definitely a movie that I believe should be extinct.

Pass on this sequel, and if you want to watch a Land Before Time film other than the original, go with either #6 "The Secret of Saurus Rock" or #7 "The Stone of Cold Fire". If you watch those two Land Before Time sequels closely, you'll notice that the theme to those movies is a big resemblance of that from Hayao Miyazaki's Japanese anime masterpiece, "Laputa: Castle in the Sky".

To summarize my review, THIS MOVIE IS BAD so pretend it doesn't exist.

The Parent Trap (1961)

This version of The Parent Trap is far superior to the remake.

[8/10 · 3 June 2016]

I first heard of this movie when I was a very little kid and I grew up with a Disney Sing Along video that contained a song from it called "Let's Get Together", so when I was eight years old I was motivated to try out the full movie and my family and I rented the movie from our library. That was my first time watching it from start to finish, and ever since then I also rented it from my library again in 4th grade and on Netflix in 9th grade. From the moment I watched this comedy in 9th grade, I've always though to myself "Wow, what a great film this is!", and to this day I own the movie on DVD and there are many things I love about it. First off, I love the beautiful scenery of Camp Inch where the twins in the movie meet in the beginning, as well as Sharon McKendrick's beautiful mansion in Boston and Susan Evers' Spanish architecture house in Monterrey, California. What I thought of the acting was that Hayley Mills definitely aced playing the roles of the twins (whose names I mentioned earlier in my review), as well as the beautiful Hollywood actress Maureen O'Hara playing the role of Maggie McKendrick twenty years after her most acclaimed role, Angharad Morgan in the hit John Ford film "How Green Was My Valley". In my opinion, Mills played the role of the twins much better than Lindsay Lohan did in the new version of The Parent Trap. In addition to all the phenomenal filming and acting of this hit movie, I also love the music that the Sherman Brothers wrote like the pretty song "For Now For Always", and "Let's Get Together" (of course). If anyone is looking for a funny film to watch that combines phenomenal acting and engaging music, I recommend you check out this movie and definitely skip the remake of it with Lindsay Lohan.

Tarzan & Jane (2002 Video)

There is nothing really to look forward to in this movie, except it being over.

[1/10 · 26 January 2016]

I really liked the first Tarzan Disney movie when I was a kid, and would often watch it after school on VCR when I was in first grade. When I saw a trailer for its sequel I thought "Hey, this looks pretty good", so I bought it on VCR when I was eight and I really don't have much to say about this one, except that it should have never even been made, and there's nothing special about it. I've never even had much of a memory from this sequel, and I really think this is a garbage animated sequel that is worth skipping. Some of the things that were horrible and lousy about this was Jane's annoying voice, the boring story lines in three episodes this movie contains, and some of the new music written for this one was also terrible. Fans of Tarzan 1, do not watch this.

The Hunchback of Notre Dame II (2002 Video)

Basically, this is one of those GARBAGE Disney movies.

[1/10 · 26 January 2016]

I grew up on Disney a lot when I was a kid, and to this day there are still some films they made that I like. For this straight-to- video sequel, however, there is nothing really to say about it except that it is simply one of the WORST movies Disney has ever made, and it is not worth owning at all. All of the songs in this movie are really lousy, and lack the dark tone the songs in The Hunchback of Notre Dame 1 had. In addition, the animation of this sequel is very ugly like the character of Quasimodo, and the villain in this film, Serouche, is such a douche bag unlike Judge Claude Frollo in the first movie. In the end credits, though, I thought the song "I'm Gonna Love You" be Jennifer Love Hewitt was pretty, and it was a really good indicator that this horrible movie is over. To anyone who owns this movie on DVD at home, I would highly recommend you scratch up your discs against a wall, break your discs into pieces with your foot, gather up the broken pieces and take a picture of the broken discs on Facebook, and then just throw away all the pieces in your garbage cans. I also suggest you do this to DVDs of horrible films like "Pocahontas 2: Journey to a New World", "The Land Before Time 2", "Open Season", "The Muppets' Wizard of Oz", "Tarzan and Jane", "Twilight", "Daddy Day Care", "Monster House", "Honey We Shrunk Ourselves", "Gigli", "Happily 'N' Ever After", "Fat Albert" and many others that stunk (but not "The Cat in the Hat" with Mike Myers, because I like that one), as well as with all Kidz Bop and Justin Bieber CDs. To summarize this review in short, this film is terrible.

How Green Was My Valley (1941)

Phenomenal acting, a relaxing soundtrack, but a very sad storyline

[7/10 · 22 October 2015]

I borrowed this movie on DVD from the library this recent August, and when I watched it I thought "This is a hallmark cinematic masterpiece in Hollywood history". There were many things I loved about this movie. First off, the Canadian actor Walter Pidgeon in the role of Mr. Gruffydd was a wonderful actor, and so was Maureen O'Hara as Angharad Morgan and the rest of the Morgan family played by Donald Crisp, Sara Allgood and the newcomer Roddy McDowall. Secondly, this movie also had a gorgeous setting taking place in a mining town in 1890 Wales. Third, I loved the Welsh singing in this film, like the popular traditional hymn "MyFanwy" which is sung by the villagers to Mrs. Morgan (Sara Allgood). However, this classic film has a very depressing story line that makes some people cry, but not me though because I really liked watching this from the library. I highly recommend this John Ford masterpiece to any movie fans of all generations old and young, because it is a very significant film to learn about, based on the book by British author Richard Llewyn.

Gigli (2003)

Do me a favor and pretend this movie doesn't exist.

[1/10 · 1 August 2015]

I haven't even seen this film before, but I already agree with most critics that this is easily one of the worst movies ever made. I'm not much of a Jennifer Lopez fan, but I do like Ben Affleck for starring in Argo, which I really loved. If you even own this film on VHS or DVD, I highly recommend you use an ax or a hammer to smash your tape without hurting yourself if you have the VHS, or if you have a DVD, break your disc in half with your foot while wearing shoes. I would also recommend you do the same thing with DVDs of movies like Daddy Day Care, Are We There Yet, Fat Albert, Kangaroo Jack, Honey We Shrunk Ourselves, Camp Rock, The Hunchback of Notre Dame 2, Hannah Montana The Movie, Cheaper by the Dozen 2, The Muppets' Wizard of Oz, Open Season, Happily 'N' Ever After and others that I hate (not the live-action version of The Cat in the Hat with Mike Myers though, because that film I personally enjoy). This would probably be the worst movie ever made that I've heard of. PLEASE DO NOT EVEN RENT IT! IT'S ABSOLUTELY TERRIBLE!

The Princess Bride (1987)

You will join me for this movie. THAT'S NOT A REQUEST!

[10/10 · 7 June 2015]

I know that quote comes from "Beauty and the Beast", but I'm saying that for this movie instead, because this is my favorite fairy tale movie of all time. In this movie, there is a sick grandchild who is seen playing an old baseball video game, and a few seconds later his grandfather comes over to his bed and reads him a storybook where the entire rest of the movie takes place. It is about a beautiful princess named Buttercup, who orders around a farm boy named Westley that always responds "As you wish" to her commands, to actually say "I love you." We are later introduced to Vizzini, who often says "Inconceivable", Inigo Montoya who says "Hello, my name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father! Prepare to die!" and Fezzik the Giant. They take Buttercup to a cliff where Westley follows them wearing a black suit and face mask in disguise. Buttercup soon discovers that the man in black was the same guy she would often order around, as they are seen rolling down a hill and then going through a forest with quick sand, and R.O.U.S. which stands for "Rodents of Unusual Size". Throughout the movie, there is an antagonist named Prince Humperdinck who wants to try to marry Princess Buttercup. There is also an epic climactic battle where Buttercup is about to marry Humperdinck, and Westley, Inigo Montoya and Fezzik come to the help of buttercup, fight a lot of guards and tie Humperdinck to a chair. Then it all ends with the grandchild asking his grandfather if he could read to him the story again the next day, and the grandfather responding "As you wish". Not only is this a fantastic movie, but it also contains a fantastic song in the end credits nominated for an Oscar called "Storybook Love". In my opinion, this film by far surpasses "Beauty and the Beast" all because of its wonderful acting, storyline and just beautiful scenery. This movie is absolutely not to be missed out on.

Fantasia (1940)

This is an example of a cinematic milestone

[10/10 · 7 June 2015]

I first remember hearing about this movie when I was very little, and ever since I first watched it on VHS, it has always been one of the many examples of my favorite movies of all time. This is so unique, because unlike a typical Disney movie, in this movie we do not hear any dialog from the characters, and all of the music is instrumental (except for "Ave Maria" at the end). The film is divided into eight sequences, each of them being introduced by a guy named Deems Taylor, who was a very well-known music critique.

The eight segments are as follows:

1.) "Tocatta & Fugue in D-minor" composed by Johanne Sebastian Bach. This segment consists of shots of the Philadelphia Orchestra and their conductor Leopold Stokowski with a lot of cool shadow and color effects during the first three minutes, then we see a lot of shapes and random objects that Taylor would suggest to us might pop into our brains when listening to the music.

2.) "The Nutcracker Suite" composed by Tchaikovsky. In this part of the movie, we listen to excerpts of the famous ballet suite, and we see various fairies, flowers, fish and other nature-related creatures.

3.) Everyone's favorite "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" starring Sorcerer Mickey and Yen Sid (the sorcerer whose name is "Disney" spelled backwards). This is also the only segment to be seen again in this film's sequel, "Fantasia/2000" 60 years later, and in it the apprentice brings to life a magical broomstick to try to fill a cauldron with water, and the spell goes wrong so the apprentice gets reprimanded. This is then followed by Mickey greeting conductor Stokowski.

4.) "Rite of Spring" composed by Igor Stravinsky. This segment takes place billions and billions of years ago with the coming of the dinosaurs, where we see the creation of Earth in the beginning of time, and are later introduced to all of the different dinosaurs including the tyrannosaurus rex, which become extinct in the end of the segment.

5.) "Intermission/Meet the Soundtrack". At this point in the film, Deems Taylor introduces this string thingamajigger called the "Soundtrack" that he asks to make a lot of sounds resembling various instrument sounds.

6.) "Pastoral Symphony No. 6" composed by Beethoven. This segment is about a day in the countryside, and in it we see a lot of Greek mythology creatures like unicorns, satyrs, centaurs and centaurettes, cupids, Bacchus, Zeus, Iris, Apollo and Diana.

7.) "Dance of the Hours". This is where we see dancing ostriches, alligators, elephants and hippos. Each part of the piece suggests different hours of the day, and it all ends with a triumphant finale where the dancing hippo takes center stage.

8.) A combination of two pieces that are utterly different in mood and tone. They are "Night on Bald Mountain" in which a bat villain named Chernabog has Satan's evil spirits dance furiously until the coming of the sacred dawn, and then Franz Schubert's "Ave Maria" which is the one and only part of the whole film in which we hear lyrics sung, and then the movie ends.

I simply must say that not only is this film one of my all time favorite animated masterpieces, but it is also an example of a big highlight of the 1940's in cinematic history, all because of the ways it is so unique and special. In addition to this masterpiece, I also think "The Wizard of Oz", "Gone with the Wind", "Citizen Kane" and "Casablanca" are main icons of cinematic successes. I definitely think this should have been the first animated movie to be nominated for the Best Picture Academy Award instead of "Beauty and the Beast".

The Blind Side (2009)

Why does this movie only have a Metascore of 53? Come on, people! It's really good.

[9/10 · 19 April 2015]

Let me start off by saying this: I saw this movie in the theater when I was in 9th grade, and you know what? I thought this movie was very fascinating and very interesting, because I became a huge football fan that year, so I thought this movie would probably make very good use of teaching high school students in the U.S. about who Michael Oher is, and how he got drafted to the Baltimore Ravens from Ole Miss. I thought Sandra Bullock was a phenomenal actress, and I was glad she won the Best Actress Academy Award. I really thought that this should have won the Best Picture Oscar rather than "The Hurt Locker", and I additionally think that this movie really deserves a higher Metascore because it was really good. I even remember getting this movie on Netflix when I was a sophomore in high school, and my family and I watched it together on a day that school was canceled, because we got heavy snow. In short, all I can say about this movie is that I strongly recommend it to anyone who likes to watch sports, and is interested in learning about current NFL players like Oher.

The King and I (1956)

THIS King and I movie is better than the animated remake

[10/10 · 9 February 2015]

I have recently watched this movie on my VHS tape for the first time I can remember, because my grandparents used to own the tape and they gave it to us. I have to say that, while this movie has a depressing ending, this movie has a really good soundtrack, and I love all the beautiful gowns Deborah Kerr wore in the film. Not to mention the phenomenal performance of Broadway star Yul Brynner, who played the King of Siam in the film as well as the show. He was great. This is just a fantastic musical flick and is superior to the animated King & I remake from the 1990s. I like the animated version of this R&H show as well, but I just think this one is the best. This would probably be my second favorite Rodgers and Hammerstein musical hit, my first being "The Sound of Music" of course.

Pocahontas 2: Journey to a New World (1998) (V) (1998 Video)

Very inaccurate and very inferior to the first Pocahontas

[2/10 · 9 November 2014]

First off, let me say that when I was very little, I used to love this sequel as well as Pocahontas 1 when I used to watch them both very often on VCR. I also used to know all of the words to "Where do I go from here" when I was in Elementary School, and sometimes I would even sing that and "Colors of the Wind" to myself. But I am in college now, and what do I think of this movie today? This is SO AWFUL! Pretend this movie doesn't exist, and erase it from your memory unless you like to look back to your childhood. I would also like to say how this movie and the first have some accurate historical elements to them, but I don't like how a lot of things about this horrible direct-to-video sequel are INACCURATE to the real life Pocahontas, who in fact, DID travel to London and marry John Rolfe. In this film, I didn't like John Rolfe's personality much, and I thought Disney should have made this movie even more inaccurate by having Pocahontas end up with John SMITH instead of ROLFE. Skip this atrocious sequel, watch the first movie if you have a sibling or a parent who likes that movie, and otherwise, watch a documentary from PBS or the History Channel that explains the actual Pocahontas.

The Muppets' Wizard of Oz (2005 TV Movie)

I recommend that everyone skips this movie

[1/10 · 23 July 2014]

Whether you are a Muppet fan or not, this movie really isn't worth watching. I am not a huge Muppet fan nowadays, but I like to look back to my childhood years when I was one. I was 12 years old when I got this movie on DVD, and I only watched it one time when I was in 5th grade, and that was it. Now I don't have the movie anymore and I hated it so much for many reasons. First off, I really like Ashanti's song "Happy," but do I like it when she played Dorothy Gale? NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was totally wrong to have African- Americans playing Dorothy and her family! Secondly, instead of a dog playing Toto, they have Pepe play that part, and he is a SHRIMP, not a dog! Third, it was an absolutely STUPID idea to have Dorothy become a singer, and not to mention the soundtrack of this version of Wizard of Oz is awful! I would highly recommend to everyone who is a Muppet fan, and everyone who is not, to pass on this stupid Muppets' Wizard of Oz movie, because everything about this film really ruins the Judy Garland Wizard of Oz legend from 1939. The Judy Garland movie is way better than this.