The One Where What Is Little Becomes Big

Wreck-It Ralph

I don't know why I was so convinced that it was another film by Pixar. Which would be weird, since Brave came out not so long ago.
Whereas it is just a Disney movie - only it's not a hand-drawn but computer-generated animation. Which is not surprising, since we have already seen it in Tangled.

Ralph is trully funny. Sometimes sophisticated-funny and sometimes plain-funny - and somehow I enjoyed both; yes, even the simplest and close-to-bad-taste jokes, which were always on but never over the edge.
It's imaginative. The story is simple and predictable - but that doesn't spoil the film a bit, because it's more of an excuse to show you various worlds, their logic and dynamics.
Retro and modern at the same time. Funny when you realise the creators used sophisticated techniques in order to make an illusion of worse graphics. But only an illusion, not actual simulation - I mean the quality of the animation is very good.
Polish dubbing is quite decent - sometimes a bit worse, but sometimes better than the original.
Music by Henry Jackman (whom I love for X-Men: First Class, mostly). I have been listening to the score for quite some time now and I like it very much. It does capture varying game styles, moods, sets of characters.
However, little things are what really makes this film big: konami code (!!); angular splashes, which are supposed to imitate pixelised world; discrete movement mode of some arcade game characters; psychonaut-like Vanellope herself - for me she steals the whole show (now that I think of it, she does steal the movie: 90% of action takes place in her, not Ralph's game, and she seems to become more and more important throughout the film); her candy Wonderland-like world, which makes you look for the Cheshire Cat at every corner; Bad Guys Anonymous support group... So many tasty details!

Adorable, isn't she?

---

I have already commented on Paperman, but having seen it on a big screen, I can now truly appreciate the genius behind the technique. More on the subject:


Stay tuned.

The Short One

Paperman

A new Disney Pixar short animated film. See for yourselves:

In my opinion: technically correct and pretty; its style (computer-generated and hand-drawn animation techniques merged) matches the story. But, all in all - bland.

Stay tuned.

The One With The Snow White, Blood Red And Ebony Black

Mirror Mirror

There's a reason why the title does not mention Snow White and rather suggests that the focus will be on other characters. In here, they are all equal: Snow White - graceful and sweet; Evil Queen - jealous, malevolent and bossy; the Prince - well, yes, I have to say it: he really is charming; and the Dwarves - funny, sincere, little guys. Every one of them has their moment.
The story is simple and the whole film does not pretend to be anything greater than it is supposed to be: a well-known but refreshed fairytale in form of a light comedy. It is funny - but it is not stupid. That had been my greatest fear: that it would be below some fair level of amusement, that the jokes would be in bad taste. Fortunately, it was fine - not very witty either, sometimes silly, but with the positive kind of silliness that results in simplicity and directness, not in stupidity or dismay.
Costumes and decorations are amazing - a true eye-candy, so colourful and varied (except from the Prince - he remains shirtless for the most part...). Although there are few locations, they are marvellous; somewhat theatrical, but such convention fits the whole project very well.
Scored by Alan Menken (who is a Disney veteran, well known for e.g. Pocahontas, Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast or Tangled, but for me he will always be the music composer for The Little Mermaid). Although I have to admit that this is not his best piece of work - it is pleasant, it is accurate accurate, but nothing special. Well... maybe except for the final bollywood-style song performed by Lily Collins:

All in all, the movie is good, not at all boring and visually perfect, and I had fun watching, despite the fact that there really was nothing new or extraordinary there.

Stay tuned.

The One Where Winter Is Coming

I have just finished a Game of Thrones marathon with friends - to remind ourselves all the plot details and characters before the next season starts. Can't wait. Which is suprising enough, since I love fantasy, but I am not at all crazy about political dramas; and A Song of Ice and Fire is exactly that: a political drama with just a shade of fantasy.
There will be dragons!
But have to catch up with the book first!

In the meantime - GoT intro simpsonised:

Robbie Conal, a graphic artist, said:

Being on the Simpsons... I think in American culture is the equivalent of being knighted by the Queen of England.

Music by Ramin Djawadi. Something different than the main theme this time:

Stay tuned.

The One Where The World Ends

The end of the world is a beautiful thing.

And it truly is in the Lars von Trier's newest project.

Melancholia

What would you do if you knew the world's end was imminent and inevitable?
Two sisters - two very different answers.

I always say that Woody Allen is a man who understands women.
I believe I can start saying about von Trier that he understands people.

10/10. But I am not going to explain why, since I agree with every glowing review of Melancholia I have read; so if you need an opinion, search the web for one and assume I stand by it. Besides, the movie has been screened for quite some time now, so everybody who was interested already saw it - it is only me who's always late...

Beautiful score based on Richard Wagner's Tristan and Isolde opera (another hint from the Universe?).
The above is not some fan-made video - that is actually the first eight minutes of the movie. Enjoy.

Digression-conclusion: it's about time I stopped watching philosophical/psychological/ontological dramas and went for romantic comedies or action movies for a while...

Stay tuned.

The One With The Rain

Bad news: no white Christmas this year.

The good news, however, is that instead of Let It Snow we have Let It Rain - my favourite song from the Plenty album by Red Box is now a single:

What is more: next Summer they are going to have a concert tour around Poland (I'll be there, no matter what!).
Wait, there is more: the tour is going to result in a live album. Delightful.

Wow. They claimed frequently - the Red Box I mean - that they felt so welcome in Poland, like nowhere else. Still, you could never help wondering whether they only said such things out of courtesy or they did mean them.
Now I believe this case can be considered a sincere and mutual affection of the band and their Polish fans. The proof would be that Simon - the lead singer and a founder member - has come to Warsaw in a sole purpose of announcing Let It Rain première only tonight on the Programme 3 of Polish Radio. (Oh, Simon Toulson-Clarke and his deep, velvet voice, mmm... I like the way he sings - I love the way he speaks!)

Stay tuned!

The One Without The Christmas Spirit

Me and my friends agree that there's some thing missing around now and that some thing is snow. You can feel it in the air. You get the impression that it's going to fall any minute now - so it feels quite weird when it doesn't. You literally experience the lack of it.
Additionally, the season for all the X-mas decorations has just opened. All in all, it's only a month away from Christmas, so it's not that bad I believe...
The point is that without snow you cannot really feel the Christmas is coming. It feels wrong.

Or maybe the Christmas spirit is here already but I'm simply unable to spot it...?


Stay tuned!